County agrees to use biodiesel to power its buses

Cumberland County will be using vegetable oil for more than just cooking.

The county's 29 transit buses, and perhaps the heating system at its nursing home, are going to start burning it.

County commissioners yesterday pledged to start buying biodiesel -- a mix of soybean oil and standard diesel fuel -- through Keystone Biofuels, a Shiremanstown-based alternative energy firm.

Cumberland's demand could total hundreds of thousands of gallon annually.

Patriotism and environmentalism are motivating the switch to biodiesel, Commissioner Rick Rovegno said.

"We recognize it is not a matter of if we convert to renewable sources of energy which are more environmentally friendly, it is only a question of when and on what terms," Rovegno said. "Simply put, the world's oil supply will be exhausted in, at most, a few decades."

The county's move follows calls by President Bush and Gov. Ed Rendell to reduce America's reliance on imported oil and promote development of alternate energy sources.

The biodiesel Cumberland will use will be a mix of 20 percent soybean oil and 80 percent standard diesel fuel.

It will put out fewer toxic emissions of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and sulfur, but, at the moment, costs only slightly less than regular diesel fuel, Rovegno said.

He said the county's commitment should help Keystone Biofuels secure financial backing for expansion. Rovegno said it is hoped the move will also encourage other governments, school districts and private agencies to follow in the county's path.

"We're trying to lead by example," he said.

Cumberland's commissioners aren't alone in that view. Greenwood School District in Perry County recently awarded a five-year student transportation contract to Hunters Valley Transportation, which pledged to use biodiesel in its buses as much as possible.

Several local companies -- including John W. Gleim Jr. Excavating Inc. and Hempt Bros. Inc. -- already are regular users of his firm's product, said Race Miner, Keystone's CEO and founder. Miner said he's also negotiating with Waste Management Inc., one of the region's largest trash haulers.

Home heating fuel will make up a large segment of his customer base as well, he said.

"Energy independence is occurring in Cumberland County and we're glad to be part of it," Miner said.

He said his company, which opened in March in a former Quaker Oats plant along St. Johns Church Road, expects to produce 7 million gallons of biodiesel this year. Soybeans used in Keystone's fuel-making process come from a Northumberland County farm.

Biodiesel is only part of the alternative energy picture, Miner said, because, at best, it could meet about 10 percent of the nation's energy needs.

For the U.S. to achieve energy independence, emphasis also must be placed on developing other renewable energy options, including wind, solar and geo-thermal power, and on conservation of petroleum-based fuels, he said.

"We're [oil] gluttons right now in this nation and the world," Miner said.