The Kalamazoo, Michigan, City Commission approved a contract with Kalamazoo Oil for a pilot term contract for biodiesel in the amount of $125,000 on June 7, according to M Live.

A City Commission agenda report stated biodiesel was selected as a preliminary potential alternative fuel source to reduce the city fleet’s carbon emissions. In engine and equipment platforms certified to operate on biodiesel by the manufacturer, emissions reductions can be achieved without modifications. Fuel-specific energy density, cold weather performance, selective catalyst reduction (SCR), engine gas recirculation (EGR), diesel particulate filter (DPF), and fuel filtration systems will need to be evaluated under actual conditions to verify and quantify overall biodiesel performance within the fleet.

Under the proposed pilot, fuel performance across all temperatures, operating conditions, and engine/vehicle and equipment configurations will be analyzed from June 2021 through June 2022.

The selected vehicles and equipment will be trialed and evaluated against vehicles and equipment of the same or like make, model, and year running conventional petroleum diesel fuel from existing suppliers for comparisons. Maintaining operational readiness will be the primary determinate of success with the biodiesel pilot.