In 1993, the U.S. Department of Energy began a program designed to promote the reduction of petroleum consumption. This program, referred to as the Clean Cities Program, encourages the formation of local public/private partnerships to increase the use and availability of alternative fuels (such as 85% ethanol fuel blends) and the vehicles powered by them. However, most coalitions are formed in an effort to improve air quality and lessen the nation's dependence on petroleum. More information about this program can be found at: http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/
The City of Boise and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality are coordinating the effort to get the Treasure Valley into the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities Program. COMPASS, along with several other public and privet entities, have joined them to form the Treasure Valley Clean Cities Coalition. The Treasure Valley Clean Cities Coalition plans to submit its action plan to the U.S. Department of Energy by July 2005 with the intent of becoming a designated coalition by late 2005.
COMPASS has completed its B20 Biodiesel Emissions Study on Meridian School District buses.
The Idaho Transportation Department granted COMPASS Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality funds to study tail pipe emissions from school buses using a 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel fuel mixture (B20). Biodiesel is a fuel derived from either agricultural products, such as soybeans, or used cooking oils/greases.
In the winter of 2004, University of Nevada Reno's Desert Research Institute (http://www.dri.edu/) used remote sensing equipment to measure the emissions from buses running first on petroleum diesel and then B20. It was the intent of the study to verify B20 emission under the bus fleet's common maintenance practices.
Meridian School Bus Biodiesel Evaluation Study: Final Report (4/19/2005)(3.4MB)
