Lynx hopes other bus operators will start fueling up on biodiesel
Friday, February 10, 2012
By: Matthew Peddie

The Central Florida Transportation Authority touts the success of its switch to biodiesel blend.

At the National Biodiesel Board’s annual conference which wrapped up in Orlando earlier this week, fuel producers and marketers celebrated the industry’s rapid growth.

One of the biggest consumers of biodiesel in Central Florida is based right here in Orlando.

The Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Lynx, uses more than four million gallons of fuel a year to power its fleet of 278 buses.

The buses run on a B20 blend, which comprises 20 per cent biomass based diesel and 80 per cent petroleum diesel.

In 2009, Lynx installed its own biodiesel blending unit.

Lynx project specialist Ricky Sonny says his organization was the first mass transit authority in the US to blend its own biodiesel.

So far the buses are running as smoothly as they did on petroleum diesel, and the switch to biodiesel has cut emissions and costs.

Before Lynx installed the blending unit, it had to ship the fuel up from South Florida, which was expensive.

“In the Central Florida area it was very difficult to get the B20 biodiesel blended product,” says Sonny.

“The thought was the biodiesel blending station would not only be able to provide biodiesel for us, for the quantity we use, but also provide for our sister agencies.”

So far Lynx is the only user of the blending station, but Sonny says other central Florida agencies that have expressed an interest include OUC, and Orange County Public Schools, which runs a fleet of 1,179 buses.

Listen to 90.7’s Matthew Peddie speaking with Ricky Sonny here.