LINCOLN, NE – The city of Lincoln is the nation's first city to convert its public transit bus fleet to a cleaner burning ethanol-diesel fuel blend called O2Diesel, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. In 1994, the city began using ethanol fuels as part of a pilot program, and began testing O2Diesel in 2000. Lincoln's StarTran bus fleet has 56 of 67 buses using the new fuel, and all but two, which use biodiesel, will be converted in the next few weeks. The Delaware-based company, O2Diesel Corp., says the fuel reduces black smoke by up to 70 percent, particulate matter by 40 percent and carbon monoxide by 26 percent. Jeff Davis, a publicist for O2Diesel, said the company kicked off the program in Lincoln because it's in the "heart of the corn belt." StarTran was also interested in the program.