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Updated: 7:36 PM Jun 25, 2008
Biodiesel School Bus Program
Wednesday, a non-profit group held an alternative fuel seminar for representatives from a half-dozen Wiregrass school districts.
Posted: 6:48 PM Jun 25, 2008 |
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1 Comments 
Wednesday, a non-profit group held an alternative fuel seminar for representatives from a half-dozen Wiregrass school districts.
The skyrocketing fuel prices are crippling already tight district school budgets nationwide.
The Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition has been holding information seminars and promoting the use of biodiesel in school buses.
Besides getting away from foreign oil, the alternative uses locally grown crops like soybeans and has a cleaner emission burn.
"You can have granola, or soy, which is most prevalent around here. You can also have algae, and there's a great deal of research taking place on that for energy at Auburn University," said Mark Bentley with the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition.
With 60 or more Enterprise school buses picking-up or dropping off children on a daily basis, anything to save money and give a cleaner emission is welcome news.
"We work on air pressure, proper maintained of the buses to make sure they give us the most miles per gallon. With biodiesel, we'll study that to see if it's the best alternative route to take in order to save money," said Ron White with Enterprise City Schools.
The Pike County School District was one of the first ones' in the state to convert its vehicles to biodiesel. It’s been a success, at least in the initial stages.
“For the farmer in Alabama and Pike County our usage of biodiesel has been a success. The use of such things as soybeans helps them and gives us a cleaner emission stand," Bentley added.
The state grants to get school districts to convert to biofuel is coming from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, better known as ADECA.
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