Los Angeles Metro Transit Authority to Increase E-95 Buses in Fleet
The
Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority has purchased from the Detroit Diesel
Corporation 100 new engines designed to run on 95 percent ethanol blends, with
the remaining five percent coming from gasoline. The Transit Authority has been
operating buses with engines originally manufactured to run on methanol but
recently converted to ethanol.
The engine is certified under California
Air Resource Board regulations. The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority
is in the process of developing an alcohol mixture that will eliminate the need
for the five percent gasoline which is currently blended with the
ethanol.
"Because of frequent engine overhauls and the rising price of
methanol, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority made the switch to
E-95," said Shaker Sawires, deputy executive officer of operations with the
Metropolitan Transit Authority. "Changing these engines from methanol to ethanol
is basically just reprogramming the firing system. It takes just a few minutes,
and it is also cost-effective when compared to other alternative fuels." Another
advantage is an increase in range and mileage, due to ethanol's higher energy
content, he said.
The ethanol was originally supplied by Parallel
Products, a company producing the fuel from food and beverage wastes. When all
330 of the buses are converted to ethanol, the Metropolitan Transit Authority
will switch to Regent International for ethanol supplies, also based in
California. Regent supplies ethanol for blending with gasoline in the western
United States. Regent's supplies of ethanol come entirely from Midwestern
ethanol producing states.
Oxy-Fuel News, November 25,
1996.
