"Whistler is committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions," said Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed. "The municipality has successfully employed biodiesel in its own fleet since 2004, and moving to biodiesel in the transit fleet while we transition to other, cleaner energies as they become available, is an important step in the right direction."

"BC Transit is committed to the testing and use of alternate fuels," says BC Transit Chair Kevin Mahoney. "Biodiesel is a cleaner burning fuel than petrodiesel and reduces both tailpipe emissions and greenhouse gases."

The switch to biodiesel is being implemented immediately. The cost of using biodiesel, which is being supplied by West Coast Biodiesel, will be the same as or less than using regular diesel fuel.

Biodiesel requires no modification to the diesel engines or to the fuelling infrastructure and is made from renewable sources such as vegetable oil, usually canola and soybean oil in Canada and the United States. It can be blended with regular diesel fuel in a variety of blends, five per cent and 20 per cent being the most common.

To ensure quality, BC Transit purchases biodiesel from a BQ9000 certified producer. When combined with Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel and biodiesel, this technology has significant environmental benefits.

In the Throne Speech, February 13, 2007, the provincial government committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 33 per cent by 2020. The provincial government announced it would adopt a five per cent biodiesel requirement in provincial diesel fuel supplies by 2010.

Transit systems across the province will play a key role in meeting this target. BC Transit is ahead of schedule and the migration to biodiesel in the Whistler region and dozens of other transit service areas will help to increase the market demand for biodiesel in BC.

Click here for the News Release:
http://www.whistler.ca/content/view/305/226/

 Supplied by the Climate Change Central's Climate Change and Energy Technologies News Digests.
http://www.climatechangecentral.com