Editor, The Pickens Sentinel
jevans@pickenssentinel.com
PICKENS - A county program aimed at reducing the amount of pollution created by
county vehicles continues to grow.
The county's biodiesel program converts the county's vehicles to run on biodiesel made from vegetable oil.
County Administrator J. Chappell Hurst gave an update on the program to County Council members Monday night.
"The (biodiesel) building will be complete by Thanksgiving," he said. "We've ordered all of the equipment, the tanks."
The county recently partner with the school district to collect and reuse all of the district's used oil that is used in food services.
"We'll be collecting all their oil ... transporting it here," Hurst said. "It'll be turned into biodiesel fuel for use by the county."
The school district is not charging the county for use of the oil, he said.
"It'll provide us with another source of oil for our biodiesel program," Hurst said.
Now that the biodiesel program is up and running, county officials are experiment with powering part of the county fleet with other sources, he said.
"We're experimenting with powering those vehicle with propane gas," Hurst said.
Propane-powered vehicles offer many advantages, he said.
"It generates cleaner emissions, just as the biodiesel does," Hurst said. "The oil does not get dirty, it is not necessary to change the oil as often. The motors are much cleaner when you tear them down. The initial propane conversion kits were donated to the county free of charge, Hurst said.
"If this looks like something that works real well, with significant savings, something that can be expanded, we believe we can seek some grants to pay for the conversion kits," Hurst said.
The benefits to the county will be numerous as well, he said.
"This should save around 30 percent on our fuel costs," Hurst said. "This is just another way that we think we can save money and help the environment at the same time."
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