Pacific Waste Services Enhances Alternative Fuels

Danielle Jackson

San Diego -- Pacific Waste Services has announced that it will use biodiesel and San Diego-based Ethos Environmental Inc.'s fuel reformulator (FR) as a new alternative fuel source. The decision was based on results of a two-month pilot in which the alternative fuel reduced emissions by 46 percent for Pacific Waste's Chula Vista division fleet.

Sixty-two solid waste hauling vehicles, including those for trash, yard waste, recycling and container transport, now run on the new fuel, which may help reduce more than 500 tons of pollution annually. The program, B20-Ethos, consists of using B20, a mixture of 20 percent of Chelsea, Mass.-based World Energy's Envirodiesel, 80 percent standard diesel, and Ethos FR, an ester formula, to reduce emissions.

One hundred percent of Pacific Waste Services's Chula Vista division flet has been converted to the alternative fuel, and B20 has been introduced to all of the diesel engine vehicles without modifications or retrofitting. Total cost is estimated at $50,000 per year in fuel, but fuel economy savings will recover the added cost, according to the company.

The company plans to implement the B20-Ethos program in the San Diego division by the end of November 2002.