The impacts of Portland's Renewable Fuels Standard can already be seen around the city, even though it is not completely in effect unitl August 15th.  Commissioner Randy Leonard's, Chief of Staff, Ty Kovatch (affectionately slated “Boy Wonder” by the Oregonian), noticed the other day that two Chevron filling stations located on the corner of 102nd Ave & SE Washington and 122nd Ave & SE Foster have recently added a 5% blend of Biodiesel (B5) fuel to their pumps. 

Despite concerns that the City’s mandate would have an adverse effect on fuel prices, the price of petroleum diesel fuel at the Shell station across the street was exactly the same!

"What is so great about Biodiesel?"  To begin, the raw oil used to make it comes from canola, which can be grown right here by Oregon farmers, reducing our dependence on foreign oil and keeping Oregon dollars in Oregon.  Second, it is a high quality fuel that enhances the lubricity (lubrication quality) of the fuel we use in diesel vehicles, which reduces wear and tear on our engines.  Finally, burning biodiesel in our diesel vehicles instead of petroleum diesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 70%!

Tiffani Penson,

BDS Outreach Coordinator