For one year, 155 STM buses to run on biodiesel in downtown Montreal

Biobus Information Page

Montreal, March 25, 2002 – Mr. Andr� Boisclair, Quebec minister of State for Municipal Affairs and Greater Montreal, the Environment and Water, and Mr. Clifford Lincoln, Member of Parliament for Lac Saint-Louis, along with their partners in the BIOBUS project announced the launch of a biodiesel demonstration and impact assessment project in downtown Montreal at the Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) Centre de transport Frontenac. The one year project has a budget of over $1.3 million.

The goals of the project are to gain practical experience in the use of biodiesel under real-life conditions, particularly in cold weather, and to demonstrate the feasibility of supplying biodiesel to a mass transit company like the STM. The project will also assess the economic and environmental impact of using this fuel, which is made from recycled sub-food-grade vegetable oil and animal fats.

Partners committed to sustainable transportation
Government of Canada support for the project comes from Canada Economic Development (CED), and the Technology Early Action Measures component of the Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF). "

This initiative is part of the Government of Canada’s strategy to promote concrete projects that could significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions", said Clifford Lincoln, who attended the event on behalf of Herb Dhaliwal, Minister of Natural Resources Canada, David Anderson, Minister of the Environment and Claude Drouin, Secretary of State responsible for Canada Economic Development (CED). "The project will help assess the environmental, economic and social advantages of introducing biodiesel in Canada and will help bring renewable fuels, such as biodiesel, to the marketplace."

All of the Government of Canada funding for these agreements is built into the existing financial framework.

Six Quebec government bodies have joined forces to provide project funding: the departments responsible for the environment (MENV), transportation (MTQ), industry and commerce (MIC), municipal affairs (MAMM), and natural resources (MRN), as well as the Agence de l'efficacité �nerg�tique (AEÉ).

Minister Andr� Boisclair stresses that the project will demonstrate biodiesel’s potential to reduce emissions of greenhouse gas and other air pollutants, will show how agro-industry waste can be put to use and will contribute to the move from fossil fuels to clean sources of energy. "The project is part of the trend toward sustainable transportation," he concluded.

Innovative Montreal Partners
The project is an initiative of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA) and one of its members, the F�d�ration des producteurs de cultures commerciales du Québec (FPCCQ). "One of the goals in using biodiesel," stated CRFA’s president, Bliss Baker, "is to provide a new, less polluting and less environmentally harmful fuel made from the wastes of local farm production or from agro-industry by-products."

Rothsay/Laurenco, a Maple Leaf Foods subsidiary located in Ville Sainte-Catherine and specializing in the recycling of agro-industry wastes, will produce and supply the pure biodiesel for the duration of the project.

For its part, the STM will provide all vehicles needed to test biodiesel under actual operating conditions. In the words of Claude Dauphin, Chairman of the Board, "The Société de transport de Montréal is proud to be a partner in this biofuel demonstration project. In its scope, this urban mass transit project will be the largest such endeavour ever implemented in North America. By providing the infrastructures needed to carry out the project, the STM is demonstrating the importance which it places on environmental protection and sustainable development."

The STM demonstration project will require 500,000 litres of biodiesel in two blends, B5 and B20, which have a mix of 5% and 20% respectively of biodiesel to regular diesel. Buses will be supplied with biodiesel starting in March 2002 and ending in March 2003.

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