BAY AREA SCHOOL BUSES SOON MAY RUN ON WASTE GREASE from nearby restaurants
28 December 2007BY JEFF SHUTTLEWORTH
An Oakland company says school buses in some Bay Areas school districts will soon be running on fuel that was made from waste grease from nearby restaurants.
Blue Sky Bio-fuels says it has the first biodiesel plant in the region that is turning waste oil into cleaner-burning fuel for school buses.
Blue Sky, which was incorporated in June 2006 and began operating its plant several months ago, says it’s reserving the cleaner-burning fuel for school buses so children won’t have to breathe traditional black diesel fumes.
The plant, which is located on 49th Street in Oakland near the main railroad line and just a few miles from the Port of Oakland, will be able to produce 20 million gallons of biodiesel a year.
On Nov. 21, the company began a partnership with the city of San Francisco’s Greasecycle program, which calls for it to collect waste grease so it will no longer be dumped into the city’s sewer system and instead will be produced into cleaner-burning fuel that the company believes is better for the environment and local school children.
The Greasecycle program was developed to clean the sewers, San Francisco Municipal Railway buses and the air.
Michael’s Transportation in Vallejo recently began receiving its first deliveries of biodiesel made from San Francisco waste grease for use in its fleet of 80 school buses.
Michael’s Transportation serves numerous school districts around the Bay Area including the Oakland Unified School District and several other districts in Alameda County as well as some districts in Marin and Sonoma counties.
Patrick MacIntyre, president of Blue Sky Bio-fuels, said in a statement, “Our solution is a triple-win proposition where cities have their waste grease turned into a renewable fuel for our youth to breathe cleaner air. We take a product, waste grease, that has been typically reconstituted for animal feed, makeup or shipped to Asia for heating oil, and turn it into a cleaner-burning fuel at a price that is competitive with diesel.”
MacIntyre, who co-founded Blue Sky with his brother, Ralph MacIntyre, said, “One of our first initiatives is to get biodiesel in as many school buses as we can in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Diesel fumes from the tailpipe and crankcase of our existing diesel school buses have been known to cause asthma and cancer in children.”
He said, “As long as we can keep it priced competitively for the school districts, biodiesel is a better alternative.”
Blue Sky Bio-fuels says it also provides a solution to restaurant owners who have to pay to get rid of their used grease.
Local restaurants sign up with Blue Sky’s collection service to pick up their grease for free. Blue Sky has created a “Clean Air Partners Program” for restaurants to be recognized for their contribution of their waste grease being turned into biodiesel for school buses.
Blue Sky Bio-fuels produces says it produces high-quality biodiesel from virgin feedstocks as well as inedible kitchen grease.
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