Oakhurst plans biodiesel conversion 130 of dairy’s delivery trucks to use cleaner-burning blend by year’s end

PORTLAND – Portland-based Oakhurst Dairy plans to begin using a biodiesel blend in 130 delivery trucks by year’s end, creating the largest private biodiesel fleet in New England, company officials announced Tuesday.

The decision is good for the environment because biodiesel is a cleaner-burning fuel and because it’s produced from waste vegetable oil, said Gov. John Baldacci.

“It reduces our need for, and our addiction to, foreign oil,” he said.

Oakhurst’s decision, which affects 90 percent of its fleet, will remove from the air an estimated 1,332 tons per year of carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas that scientists associate with global climate change. The reduction is equal to taking 262 cars off the road for a year, Oakhurst officials said.

Except in the coldest weather, the delivery trucks will use a blend that’s 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel. That ratio reduces air pollution without requiring engine modifications, officials said.

Oakhurst plans to experiment with increasing the biofuel ratio to further cut petroleum use, said Stan Bennett, president of Oakhurst Dairy.

Oakhurst, which is the largest family-owned, independent dairy in northern New England, also is buying hybrid cars for its sales staff as part of its energy and carbon reduction plan.

Interest in biodiesel over the past year has been aided by increases in crude oil prices, which have made biodiesel cost-competitive. In addition, Bennett credited a provision in Baldacci’s energy bill last session which grants an 8-cent-per-gallon reduction in the excise tax for motor fuel that contains at least 2 percent biodiesel with helping Oakhurst make the switch.

Clean Air-Cool Planet, a Portsmouth, N.H.-based nonprofit group that promotes solutions to global warming, has worked with Oakhurst on ways to reduce carbon emissions since 2001.

A high-profile company such as Oakhurst making a big commitment to biodiesel serves as an example to other fleet owners, said Bill Burtis, a group spokesman.

“An increased use of biodiesel and biofuels creates an increased likelihood that our children and grandchildren will enjoy a better, cleaner environment,” Baldacci said. “We need to continue looking to the future of energy in Maine.”