The City has years of experience using biodiesel. In fact, all City-owned diesel vehicles and equipment that use the City’s fueling stations have been powered by a 20% biodiesel blend (20% biodiesel/80% petrodiesel, also known as B20) since 2004. Each year the City uses about 600,000 gallons of B20 in approximately 373 trucks, 166 pieces of construction equipment (backhoes, graders, excavators, etc.) and 62 towed units (compressors, generators, etc.).  During the summer of 2007, the City increased the fuel blend so that all equipment is currently running on B50 (50% biodiesel), and B20 during very cold winter days.

The conversion to a biodiesel blend began in 2001, when the City of Portland & Multnomah County’s Sustainable Procurement Strategy identified three target areas for improvement: biodiesel, hybrid vehicles, and vehicle purchasing performance standards. Soon after, Multnomah County conducted a one-year pilot study on the use of B20 in their fleet, showing promising results. By the August of 2004, both the City and the County had converted their diesel fleet vehicles to B20.

City Fleet Services met with the bureaus impacted by a switch to biodiesel. All agreed to absorb the increased fuel costs associated with the switch – which at that time was approximately $.20 more per gallon – because biodiesel offered a number of benefits over traditional full petrodiesel, including:

In light of the community health and environmental costs associated with these pollutants, the price premium for the biodiesel was more than offset by the gains in improving local air quality. Since the implementation of the biodiesel program, the cost of biodiesel has come down and the cost of petrodiesel has dramatically increased. As of July 2006, the cost premium associated with using B20 has been reduced to $.07 per gallon.

In July of 2006, the Portland City Council voted to approve a citywide renewable fuels standard requiring that all diesel sold in Portland contain 5% biodiesel (B5) and all gasoline contain 10% ethanol (E10), effective July 2007. In an effort to maximize the City’s own use of renewable fuels, they also created a binding City Policy formally requiring that all City-owned:

One City bureau has converted to much higher blends of biodiesel. Beginning in July of 2006, the Water Bureau began using 99% biodiesel (B99) for all of their diesel vehicles located in the city. In the winter months, the Bureau will modify the percentage of biodiesel to ensure that vehicles and equipment do not experience fuel gelling problems in colder weather. At 144 diesel-powered vehicles, the Water Bureau fleet is one of the largest in the country to use B99. The Water Bureau vehicles converted to B99 are the "workhorses" of municipal public works including backhoes, dump trucks, graders, excavators, water service trucks, welding and crane trucks, pick up trucks, compressors, forklifts, tractors and mowers.

 

"Portland heavy equipment converted to 99% biodiesel." American Water Works Association -- E-Mainstream. American Water Works Association. 19 Dec 2006