Biodiesel is an easy solution
to becoming green
Harvard University strives to
be a leader in sustainability
among universities and
institutions, and biodiesel is
an important component of
its clean energy portfolio.
The Cambridge, MA university has an
Office of Sustainability that sets standards
for the university and has published a 36-
page guide for all departments to follow.
Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust
tours the country and the world to talk
about sustainability at universities and
other institutions.
Harvard’s attention to sustainable
practices and greenhouse gas reduction
spans all aspects of campus life, including
the university’s 300-vehicle fleet, which
includes buses, cars, and work vehicles.
Since 2004, the university has been
running all its diesel vehicles on a B20
biodiesel blend, according to David
Harris, Harvard’s Director of Transit and
Fleet Management. “Students like to
know that the university is embracing
sustainability and that the shuttle buses
they ride are powered by biodiesel,” he
said. “Sustainability is an expected goal
and practice.”
The biodiesel program has earned the
university recognition as a leader on
the environment. In 2008, the National
Biodiesel Board honored Harvard with
an Inspiration award, and in 2016, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
Region 1 bestowed an Environmental
Merit award on the university for its
outstanding efforts in promoting New
England’s environment.
The Office of Sustainability is a
fairly recent creation that grew out of
Harvard’s 2004 Green Campus initiative.
During that initial push, Harris answered
the call with a proposal to convert
Harvard’s 90 diesel-fueled vehicles to B20
biodiesel. The university green-lighted
the project, and the fleet manager signed
up World Energy and Dennis K. Burke as
fueling partners.
“In 2004, biodiesel was not widely
accepted,” Harris said. “We started out
using biodiesel in 55-gallon drums and
putting it only in vehicles that were
beyond their manufacturer’s
warranty, so that we couldn’t be
caught short. Once we had used
biodiesel in a couple of shuttle
buses for a while and validated
that it did not pose any risks to
the engines or to the fuel’s cold
flow properties, we made the
calculated risk that we would use B20 in
our university’s vehicles.”
The fleet department set up a 24-hour
self-service biodiesel fueling station
with a 2,000-gallon dedicated outdoor
tank, and quickly emerged as a leading
biodiesel user in the region. World Energy
supplied virgin stock vegetable oil at the
outset to help Harvard comply with the
ASTM standard that was recommended
at the time by the National Biodiesel
Board. Dennis K. Burke created the B20
blends.
“Back then we were looking for a
fuel that was renewable and cleaner
burning and we were looking to reduce
our dependence on foreign oil,” Harris
explained. Before making the switch to
B20, he had looked into compressed
natural gas (CNG), which was the only
competing option. “The infrastructure
costs for CNG were too high,” he said.
“You would have to transition over
and retrofit your equipment and your
facilities. It was certainly cost prohibitive.
“It was much more cost effective to
go with biodiesel, because we already
had diesel vehicles in our fleet, and we
could source a cleaner-burning fuel
that was renewable and helped reduce
our dependence on foreign fuel. With
Harvard preferring to be on the leading
edge, whether in education or in the
services provided, we certainly had the
support of the university to look at these
alternative fuels and build the fueling
station.”
He likes the way that biodiesel drops
right into the diesel fleet fueling process.
“Biodiesel is an easy solution to becoming
Fleets
D6751ASTM’s
specification for neat biodiesel
22 Biodiesel Success Stories