This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City's fleet - complete with natural-gas vehicles and electric cars - has been known for years as the valley's greenest, but two smaller suburban cities are elbowing for space in that driver's seat.
South Jordan started filling its diesel vehicles with biodiesel in June, and Midvale followed suit two months ago. Although their fleets are small, they hope the impact on the environment will be big.
"One of South Jordan's mottoes is [to provide] an excellent community to live in. Providing a cleaner atmosphere through burning clean fuels helps in that cause," says Jason Rasmussen, the southern Salt Lake Valley community's deputy director of operations.
Biodiesel is made from used or "virgin" vegetable oil, usually soybean or rapeseed oil, that has cleaner emissions than fossil fuels. It can be used alone, but is more commonly blended with regular diesel. South Jordan, Midvale and Salt Lake City all use B20, which contains 20 percent biodiesel.
The fuel is produced domestically, reducing dependence on foreign oil, and - in its pure form - biodiesel releases only a quarter of the carbon-dioxide emissions produced by burning petroleum diesel. Those emissions are cut by 15 percent with B20, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Plus, these suburban fleet managers say, the price is right.
In recent months, B20 has generally sold for 5 to 10 cents less per gallon than conventional diesel. Distributors receive a 20-cent-per-gallon tax incentive from the federal government to stock the alternative fuel. Depending on the price of petroleum diesel, biodiesel often comes out ahead.
In South Jordan, 55 trucks and pieces of equipment, including the city's fire engines, burn about 4,000 gallons of B20 each month. It's an annual cost savings of up to $4,800. Not huge, but the city couldn't have made the switch if it meant a cost increase, Rasmussen says.
The city is constantly "looking at what alternative-fuel vehicles are out there and what makes fiscal sense."
For instance, 17 percent of South Jordan's gasoline-powered vehicles are capable of accepting ethanol, an alcohol-based fuel made from starch crops such as corn, wheat and barley. It has environmental benefits when used as an 85 percent, or better, blend with regular gasoline (E85).
The price of E85 in Utah - located away from Midwest production centers - is currently prohibitive, but Rasmussen anticipates the price could lower in the next several years, and he wants to be ready. Within the next five years, more than half of all gasoline vehicles in South Jordan's fleet will be flexible-fuel vehicles that can take E85.
Midvale and South Jordan buy B20 through the state, which began offering the product this year.
Jeff Done, the state's fuel-dispensing manager, says some fleet managers have been hesitant to use B20 because of concerns about vehicle warranties and biodiesel's tendency to gel during winter months.
Most car manufacturers have not yet endorsed the use of biodiesel at greater than a 5 percent blend (B5), causing some to worry that fuel-related engine problems might not be covered when using a higher biodiesel blend. But biodiesel users and distributors say they haven't had any problems with the fuel.
Frank Anderson of Midvale-based Cardwell Distributing Inc., the state's biodiesel supplier, says B20 is safe to use in the cold if it is blended with premium diesel fuel. But some users, including Salt Lake City, switch to B5 during the winter.
Still, Done says even a little bit of biodiesel can go a long way toward helping the environment.
All 88 state-owned fueling sites will be stocking diesel solely as B5 within the next six months.
"We're taking baby steps, but they are the right baby steps to take. Once we get the OEMs [original-equipment manufacturers] to step up we will be dropping in B20," Done says. "Anytime we can do renewable fuel, that's the way to go."
Beverly Miller, director of the Utah Clean Cities Coalition, is "tickled to death" that cities in southern Salt Lake County are setting an example.
"It's a model for other small communities to follow," Miller says. "Fleet managers get together, and mayors get together and say 'You should be using this biodiesel.' The word gets around, and people will listen to their peers."