PHILADELPHIA, Pa. /CitizenWire/ — The Energy Cooperative, a member-owned nonprofit, announced today the delivery of their 10 millionth gallon of biodiesel blended fuel. The delivery went to Krapf Bus Companies, a local private bus contractor for school districts. These 10 million gallons of biodiesel blends have resulted in the use of nearly 1.5 million gallons of domestically-produced fuel and significant emission reductions for many regulated pollutants. Among them, nearly 11,300 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have been reduced. This is the equivalent of planting more than 260,000 trees or taking 2000 cars off the road for an entire year.
Krapf Bus Company, the country's 8th largest private bus contractor, provides transportation needs to school districts, municipalities, and private entities. Since 2008, The Energy Co-op has provided Krapf with biodiesel blends, a blend of pure biodiesel and ultra-low sulfur diesel, which is used in school buses for the school districts of West Chester Area, Downingtown Area, Coatesville Area, Twin Valley and the Chester County Intermediate Unit. Krapf was the winner of the inaugural "Go Yellow, Go Green Award" given to a leader in the school bus industry who has demonstrated superior commitment in pursuing positive responses to growing environmental concerns.
"All of our partners should be commended for the leadership they are showing by using local biodiesel to displace petroleum," said Jossi Fritz-Mauer, Co-Director for The Energy Co-op. "It's incredibly gratifying as a nonprofit to reach this milestone and displace so much petroleum with cleaner burning biodiesel, which we source from Pennsylvania and local waste products."
The Energy Co-op Biodiesel Distribution Program delivered its first gallon of biodiesel blends to Great Valley School District in 2006. With the help of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection's Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant (AFIG) program, which covers the added cost of using biodiesel blends, Great Valley became the first school district in the Commonwealth to use biodiesel. Since then, The Energy Co-op has grown to assist over a dozen other area school districts in Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties in their transition to biodiesel. In total, over 90,000 students ride nearly 1,300 vehicles powered by biodiesel blended fuel.
"We partnered with The Energy Cooperative who helped us through the grant process and supplied us with our fuel," said Michael Detwiler, Supervisor of Transportation for the Great Valley School District. "This was a seamless changeover and we experienced no problems operating over 60 school buses on biodiesel. We need to leave a cleaner environment for the next generations and this is just one of the many ways we can do this."
To meet this goal, The Energy Co-op purchases its biodiesel from an in-state producer who uses locally collected waste-greases in its feedstock. By prioritizing a local, sustainable product, The Energy Co-op helps spur the local economy and create green jobs.
Besides the environmental and economic benefits of using biodiesel, school districts are able to improve the quality of air exposed to school children. Carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, particulates, and a myriad of other harmful chemicals, including known carcinogens, are all lowered when using biodiesel blends to displace conventional diesel fuel.
The Energy Cooperative, a member-owned nonprofit, was founded by the Mt. Airy food co-op Weaver's Way in 1979 as a heating oil co-op. Since then, The Energy Co-op has grown to offer residential and commercial members access to renewable electricity, as well as biodiesel to commercial fleets. The mission of The Energy Co-op is to provide members access to renewable energy at a cost savings. The Energy Co-op is a full-service, licensed Class I Distributor in Pennsylvania supplying biodiesel at any blend level.
More information: http://TheEnergy.Coop .
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