A pilot program with biodiesel buses helped UC-Santa Cruz reduce CO2 emissions by 25 percent

Switching to renewable diesel fuel significantly reduced the amount of carbon emissions UC Santa Cruz emitted from its student shuttles and other fleet vehicles.

Date Posted
10/28/2020
Identifier
2020-B01488
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Biodiesel for buses cuts carbon footprint

Summary Information

Although electric light duty consumer vehicles are now widely available, the heavy duty vehicle market has proven harder to electrify. One way to reduce emissions from heavy duty vehicles without having to electrify vehicles is to switch to biodiesel. 

As part this broader effort, the University of California at Santa Cruz ran a pilot program with biodiesel buses. The University converted its entire regular diesel bus fleet to biodiesel in January 2019. Research teams then monitored the effects and estimated the carbon emissions reduction from this switch.

In the end, switching to biodiesel buses reduced CO2 emissions by an estimated 25 percent.

Results Type
Deployment Locations