A New Way to Trim the Fat: Biodiesel Fuel

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Education officials have talked for years about trimming the fat from its budget. They might just be adding some of it to the fuel used to run school buses.

After suffering through fuel crunches for most of this school year, the Education Department is exploring whether biodiesel fuel could be used for at least some of the 5,000 buses the state operates, said Donald Tudor, the agency’s transportation director.

Biodiesel is a blend of vegetable oil or animal fat with diesel fuel. It can be used in regular diesel-burning engines without modification.

The state has missed a fuel shipment about once every two weeks since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita disrupted gas refining this summer, Tudor said.

The Education Department would like to form a partnership with the University of South Carolina to see if biodiesel can work in school buses.

"We would have to generate 13,000 gallons a day of used grease in order to provide all the biofuel we need statewide," Tudor said.

As many as 250 school districts nationwide use biodiesel in their buses, National Biodiesel Board spokeswoman Amber Thurlo Pearson said.

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Information from: The State, http://www.thestate.com