VANCOUVER — By the end of next year the City of Vancouver says it will have transitioned its diesel fleet to 100 per cent renewable fuel as part of its ongoing efforts to green the city.

The move, which is expected to reduce emissions to half of 2007 levels by the end of 2019, is “great news,” said Jeremy Moorhouse, a senior analyst focused on transportation with Clean Energy Canada, a think tank based at Simon Fraser University.

Renewable fuel made from waste products can result in 70 to 80 per cent lower emissions compared with fossil fuel diesel, he said.

That’s a “clear carbon pollution reduction.”

The city has 577 diesel powered vehicles, including fire trucks and dump trucks, which together represent about 55 per cent of its vehicle fleet.

Under its new contract with Suncor, all of those diesel vehicles will run on renewable diesel made from waste sources.

Sabrina Scalena, a spokesperson for the city, said the switch isn’t expected to have any negative impacts on food security, a concern with some other biofuels made from food crops. Neither is it expected to result in a “material increase” in cost, she said.

Both biodiesel and renewable diesel can be made from organic waste sources like fats and used vegetable oils, Scalena explained. The difference is renewable diesel is refined further than biodiesel to the same standard as petroleum diesel.

It means the city can keep its fleet and transition to 100 per cent renewable fuel quickly, “which is fantastic,” said Moorhouse.

In 2017 the city fleet emitted more than 16,000 tonnes of greenhouse gasses measured in carbon dioxide equivalents — 9,075 tonnes were from the diesel fleet.

By 2023 the diesel fleet is expected to release closer to 600 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents, Scalena said.

“This new contract concretely demonstrates our commitment to greening our operations and deriving 100 per cent of our energy from renewable sources,” said Jerry Dobrovolny, general manager of engineering services, in the city’s Monday morning news release.

“We are walking the talk and finding innovative ways to respond to climate change and its devastating impacts,” he said.

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“It’s a good move by the city,” agreed Moorhouse, and just one piece of a broader strategy to reduce transportation-related emissions that includes transit, walking, biking and electric vehicles.

“But this switch is something they can do right away,” he said.

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