The Winnipeg School Division is trying out a soybean-based fuel in a handful of its school buses in an attempt to reduce its environmental footprint.

Four of the division's buses are now running on biodiesel in a pilot project to see whether the fuel is suitable for use in the division's fleet of 60.

Biodiesel, which is made by chemically combining any natural oil or fat with an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol, is better for the environment and for the health of the children, school board chair Kristine Barr says. 

"Once we have seen the positive results — which we are very much expecting to be see — then our plans call for the phasing in of the biodiesel fuel for the rest of our buses for the next few years," Barr said.

"We expect that eventually it will be the fuel of choice for the rest of our entire fleet."

The division will monitor bus performance, mechanical condition, cost savings and emissions reductions prior to extending use of biodiesel to its other buses. Barr could not say how long it would take to assess the results.

The buses will run on B5 fuel in the winter, which means five per cent of the fuel in the bus will be biodiesel, with the rest ultra low-sulphur diesel.

Come springtime, the blend will be boosted to B20.

Province helping fund test 

Officials said biodiesel at a B20 level reduces carbon monoxide by 11 per cent, particulates by more than 10 per cent and sulphur oxide by 20 per cent.

The province's energy development initiative is helping to finance the project, and Manitoba Hydro is sharing its refuelling infrastructure with the division until biodiesel becomes more widely available.

Provincial Energy Minister Jim Rondeau applauded the change.

"Biodiesel is 100-per-cent renewable, better on the environment, better for the farm economy. And then you're not moving fuel from Alberta or far away into Manitoba, you're producing the fuel here.  You're using less transportation costs, so it's a huge win," he said.

Currently, the biodiesel used in the buses comes from the U.S., but the school division and the province say by the fall, when two biodiesel plants are scheduled to open in Manitoba, the buses will run on Manitoba-grown soybeans.

The Winnipeg School Division, the city's largest, is the first school board in the province to try biodiesel. The division's bus fleet currently consumes more than 300,000 litres of diesel fuel each year.