City Turns to Alternative Fuel

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

June 14 -- To keep Santa Monica’s small army of vehicles running green, the City has turned to natural gas and hydrogen. Now they may be turning more to plant products with an alternative fuel known as biodiesel.

The City Council Tuesday evening gave the green light to test a new technology that, if successful, could lead to the further use of biodiesel, not only in Santa Monica, but throughout Southern California.

“We’ll be collecting some good accurate data, and we’ll be able to make some good decisions based on that,” Fleet Supervisor Rick Sikes said before the meeting.

“Currently there is a large stock of diesel vehicles (in southern California) that would be too expensive to replace, and still probably have 20 years life left in them.”

If tests go well, the new technology – a catalytic converter to help biodiesel burn cleaner – could be the key to a cost-effective way to cut pollution on those diesels, Sikes said.

For years, Europeans and environmentalists stateside have raved about the benefits of biodiesel. But until now, the fuel used alone produced levels of Nitrous Oxide (Nox) that were considered too high by air regulatory boards for wide use in Southern California cities, City officials said.

Recent technological advancements have changed that, however.

Partnering with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, two of the City’s latest garbage trucks that drive out to dumps in surrounding areas are now running on a 20 percent blend of biodiesel with petroleum diesel fuel. They would become the test vehicles for the $280,000 study.

The vehicles will be equipped with catalytic devices currently used industrially for power plants and gas turbines. In recent years, the device has been shrunk to fit under the hoods of trucks and cars.

When the catalytic devices are used in tandem with biodeisel, the results can be dramatic, including a reduction in “particulate matter, carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, carcinogenic polyaromatic hydrocarbons and greenhouse gases,” according to the staff report.

If the devices work successfully, the City will gather further data on running the vehicles on pure biodiesal, Sikes said.

While hydrogen fuel cells pollute the least, they are very expensive and not widely available, said Sikes. Vehicles that run on compressed natural gas are cleaner than cars and trucks that run on gasoline, but not as clean as pure biodiesal, he said.

Biodiesel used with the catalytic device could cut down costs and pollution, making it an attractive option for cities while their diesel fleet continues to age.

The $280,000 test, officials said, will be a collaborative effort between such groups as the AQMD, LA BioFuel, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and others. Santa Monica is also expected to pitch in $30,000 in kind for the test.