San Diego County school district switches bus fleet to run on renewable diesel

Vista Unified School District (VUSD), a public school district based in San Diego County, California, has switched its fleet of 53 school buses to run on MY renewable diesel from Neste, with U.S. headquarters in Houston.

VUSD is the fourth largest school district in San Diego County and is comprised of 32 schools. VUSD serves more than 23,000 primary to high school students and 2,000 adult education students in Vista, California, and sections of Oceanside, San Marcos, Carlsbad and some unincorporated areas of the San Diego County, Californa.

Bill Weisberg, director of transportation for VUSD, says Neste MY renewable diesel offered improvements for his fleet in several respects. "When considering our students' health and safety, the local air quality and the reduction in preventative maintenance costs, this was clearly a win-win solution for our district," Weisberg says. "We should see less residue in our fuel filters and in the diesel particulate filters (DPFs). These filters constantly need attention when using standard CARB (petroleum) diesel. This will save our mechanics time and keep our buses on the road.”

Neste MY renewable diesel is a fuel produced from primarily wastes and residues. The renewable diesel is made to cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 percent, reduce carbon monoxide by 24 percent and fine particulates by 33 percent. Neste says its renewable diesel is a direct replacement fuel that requires no blending and is compatible with all diesel engines.

Renewable diesel contains nearly zero impurities and burns cleaner than traditional diesel, Neste says. This can have an instant positive effect on exhaust aftertreatment systems and fuel system components.

"We are very happy to see Vista Unified School District make the switch to Neste MY renewable diesel and pleased to hear about the great results they have already experienced,” Jeremy Baines, vice president of sales, Neste U.S. Inc., says. "School children are some of the most susceptible to the effects of harmful emissions, so being able to directly improve the air quality for an entire school district gives us a great sense of accomplishment."

IPC USA, based in Santa Ana, California, is the exclusive distributor of Neste MY renewable diesel to VUSD.