Bus travellers in Graz know it as "Ökodrive", as in ecological driving. A Trendsetter project has helped the City of Graz to quickly turn the city bus fleet into running on 100 % biodiesel fuel. "By the beginning of next year we will have no more fossil fuel buses", says Gerhard Ablasser, deputy chief of the Graz office for urban development and town preservation.
To achieve an all-biodiesel municipal bus fleet, the City of Graz has so far introduced 24 brand new biodiesel buses and modified the engines of 40 old buses to run on biodiesel. The last order for new buses was in January this year and with a delivery of 23 new buses in the autumn, almost all of the 133 city buses will run on biodiesel; two buses run as a test on natural gas.
"The citizens are positive and support the project. Biodiesel doesn't smell as bad as diesel, the new buses have air conditioning and they are wheelchair-accessible from a ramp", explains Gerhard Ablasser.
Although Graz had already introduced biodiesel buses before Trendsetter started in early 2002, the project has sped up the transformation of the bus fleet. Moreover, biodiesel buses do not really need extra equipment, except for filters and a certain tubing system. Thus, the process has not been a problem. Politicians, producers and distributors have cooperated well in order to get the project running. "There are also positive side effects with the project – the biodiesel fuel for the city buses consists of recycled vegetable oil from restaurants and households. This means we have a closed environmental circle."
Another target for the City of Graz is to convert 60 percent of the taxi fleet of the taxi company Taxi 878 to run on biodiesel. But whereas there are no problems with biodiesel buses or trucks, passenger cars with this fuelling still experience some technical problems. Experts from the University of Graz are now looking into the matter.
MORE INFORMATION: Gerhard Ablasser, Stadt Graz, +43 316 8724203, gerhard.ablasser@stadt.graz.at
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