City of Edina, Minnesota, celebrates new 100% biodiesel fueling system, B100 fleet
Edina, Minnesota, celebrated its new 100 percent biodiesel (B100) fueling system and heavy-duty vehicle fleet Oct. 8 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the city’s public-works and park-maintenance facility.
Ten of Edina’s existing dump trucks/snowplows have been equipped with Optimus Technologies’ Vector System that allows them to run on 100 percent biodiesel, even in colder weather.
The B100 storage and dispensing system was provided by Benecor Inc.
Two and a half years in the making, the project makes Edina the first municipality in Minnesota to implement a fleet and fuel pump for B100.
The biodiesel fueling these trucks is refined in Minnesota from locally grown soybeans, according to the city of Edina, supporting the state’s agricultural economy.
Fueling the trucks with B100 biodiesel is estimated to reduce emissions up to 74 percent and remove harmful tailpipe emissions as the trucks carry out their daily work.
This was a collaborative effort between Edina’s sustainability and facilities and fleet divisions, and the public-works department.
The project was made possible through more than $546,000 of external grants and funds from:
USDA’s Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive program.
Minnesota State Competitiveness Fund Matching Funds program.
U.S. DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Local Climate Action Grant program.
Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council.
“This project directly invests in Minnesota’s farmers and makes our air cleaner because we’re not emitting pollutants from these trucks,” said Matthew Gabb, a sustainability specialist. “It’s a win-win project that benefits multiple sectors statewide.”
The initiative supports Edina’s climate-action plan, adopted in 2021, which commits to a 45 percent reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.
“We want to demonstrate that it’s a feasible, scalable solution that other cities and agencies can adopt,” said Marisa Bayer, the sustainability manager for the city of Edina. “Other cities, counties and the state of Minnesota have goals to reduce transportation emissions, and this is a way to achieve those goals in a cost-effective way while maintaining the same level of service.”
MSR&PC said the B100 fleet and fueling system adopted by Edina is “a true win-win-win for Minnesota farmers, our economy and the environment. We look forward to other Minnesota cities following Edina’s lead.”
