Double up on bio-fuels in Aalborg
This summer, the city buses in Aalborg will be even more sustainable than usually. The bus operators and the City of Aalborg have agreed to double the amount of bio-diesel used to operate the buses.
As part of the CIVITAS ARCHIMEDES project, 50 buses have been operating on a 10 percent 2nd generation bio-diesel blend since October 2010. The bio-diesel is mainly produced from animal fat of slaughterhouse waste. The trial has been so successful that the partners have decided to double the amount of bio-diesel in the blend in the period between May and October 2012. The new blend has been tested and proved feasible through a test run of a 30 percent bio-diesel blend on the CIVITAS ARCHIMEDES shuttlebus in 2011. During the summer of 2011, 50 postal delivery vehicles were also operating on a 20 percent bio-diesel blend without any problems. Since October 2010, the 50 city buses have saved around 270,000 litres of fossil fuels through the use of fuel made from waste products. The buses have thereby helped to save the scarce resource of fossil fuels, while decreasing CO2-emissions by 710 tonnes. The reason why the buses are not operating on 100 percent bio-diesel is due to some technical specifications of bio-diesel. The air temperature has an effect on the coagulation of fuels and pure bio-diesel cannot be used on a normal diesel engine. Moreover, the costs of bio-diesel are rather high compared to conventional diesel. To push the use of bio-diesel further, the City of Aalborg and the regional public transport authority will test a new bio-diesel product this summer that can be used in its pure on a normal engine. This product will be tested on the CIVITAS ARCHIMEDES shuttlebus from 1 July to 11 August 2012.
