In the United States (US), Vista Unified School District (VUSD), a public school district based in San Diego County, California, has switched its fleet of 53 school buses to run on renewable diesel produced by Finland-headed oil refiner and renewable fuel producer Neste Oyj. VUSD is the 4th largest school district in San Diego County.
Comprised of 32 schools with diverse educational programmes that range from kindergarten to adult education facilities, VUSD serves more than 23 000 primary to high school students and 2 000 adult education students.
According to Bill Weisberg, Director of Transportation for VUSD, Neste MY Renewable Diesel offered improvements in several respects.
When considering our students’ health and safety, the local air quality, and the reduction in preventative maintenance costs, this was clearly a win-win solution, Weisberg said.
Environmental performance cuts maintenance costs
Weisberg singled out the clean-burning properties of Neste MY Renewable Diesel as a way to cut back significantly on the fleet’s maintenance costs. “
We should see less residue in our fuel filters and in the Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) filters. These filters constantly need attention when using standard CARB (petroleum) diesel. This will save our mechanics time and keep our buses on the road,” he said.
Neste MY Renewable Diesel is a low-carbon fuel produced from 100 percent renewable and sustainable raw materials, primarily wastes and residues. According to the company, its premium renewable diesel cuts greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 80 percent, and can reduce carbon monoxide (CO) by 24 percent and fine particulate matter (PM) by 33 percent, all while enhancing fleet performance.
Unlike biodiesel, Neste MY Renewable Diesel is a direct replacement “drop-in” fuel that requires no blending and is compatible with all diesel engines. Biodiesel contains aromatics and impurities that can contaminate engine oil, foul fuel injectors and clog the DPF filters. Renewable diesel contains nearly zero impurities and burns much cleaner.
This can have an instant positive effect on exhaust after treatment systems – less soot produced can mean fewer DPF regenerations. It has a positive effect also on fuel system components as lack of impurities reduces deposit formation in critical fuel injector parts.
We are very happy to see Vista Unified School District make the switch to Neste MY Renewable Diesel, and pleased to hear about the great results they have already experienced. School-age children are some of the most susceptible to the effects of harmful emissions, so being able to directly improve the air quality for an entire school district gives us a great sense of accomplishment, said Jeremy Baines, Vice President of Sales, Neste US, Inc.
