MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The University of Minnesota Parking and Transportation Services has converted its fuel tanks on the Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses from diesel to a 20 percent biodiesel blend. The university has 50 vehicles on the Twin Cities campus that run on diesel fuel, and in fiscal year 2006, the campus used 44,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

The university Twin Cities campus has used E-85 for several years and has 50 vehicles capable of running on E-85 (a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline). The university pumped more than 14,000 gallons of E-85 in fiscal year 2006.

Together, the use of E-85 and biodiesel fuel account for 20 percent of the fuel used by the Twin Cities campus. The university’s Twin Cities fleet includes about 500 vehicles — mostly cars, vans, trucks, and SUVs — including 11 hybrids and 50 vehicles that run on E-85. Each year, university vehicles on the Twin Cities campus travel nearly 4 million miles.