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Biodiesel Not to Blame for MN Bus Problems

Officials in Minnesota say that biodiesel is not to blame for stalling school buses in the bitter, bitter cold of Minneapolis. After temperatures… without the wind chill… dropped to -20 to -30 degrees F, the Bloomington School District had to cancel classes, in part, because a dozen buses wouldn’t start.

frozenbiodieselThe bus company was quick to blame biodiesel, required by the state to be run in the buses. But this story from Minneapolis TV station KSTP says the cold is the real culprit:

State officials say all diesel fuel gels up in cold temperatures.

Bill Walsh with the Minnesota Department of Commerce said, “It really has nothing to do with the biodiesel. It’s a diesel fuel issue in the winter and cold weather.”

Officials add condensation getting into storage tanks or a bad blend of biodiesel could have also contributed to the problems.

    2 Comments »

  • [...] school buses use. I posted my doubts on a local blog and sent copies to local reporters. Soon, others began to have doubts, [...]

  • January 22, 2009 — 5:17 pm

    Laura Hetrick

    Are you crazy? It’s not the biodiesel, it’s the cold weather. Do you not know where you live? Minnesota gets sub zero temperatures every winter. You should have thought about that before you required these buses. It sure is evironmentally sound to run the buses ALL night so they would run the next day.

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