For over six weeks, an ordinary garbage truck has traveled its route through Hammond, Indiana, picking up trash1 and returning to its garage every night. But there’s one thing that makes this vehicle a lot less ordinary than others in the city’s fleet2: Instead of running on diesel fuel, it is powered by 100 percent vegetable-based fuel, made from crops like those grown in Indiana.
Hammond officials, Congressman Peter Visclosky and local environmentalists joined Naturally Renewable Group (NRG) today to announce the success of a Hammond pilot3 program to power city vehicles with ESTERHOL(tm), 100 percent vegetable-based fuel.
City officials conducted trials with the new fuel earlier this year. The resulting data show the fuel works as well as, if not better than, the diesel fuel normally used in the vehicles.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott, Jr. wants to expand the pilot program to include more trucks in the city’s fleet.
“The results of the trial run indicate that the engine ran well, the exhaust4 was cleaner and the fuel even eliminated the engine knock5 we normally get in a truck like this one,” said Mayor McDermott. “It is our hope that we can expand this program to include more vehicles in the future.”
Biofuel is not a new technology. The first diesel engine in 1892 was originally designed to run on peanut oil. Dr. Rudolf Diesel believed his engine would operate on a variety of vegetable oils but, as petroleum-based diesel fuel was cheaper and readily6 available, it quickly became the fuel of choice.
NRG has found a way to harness the energy from burning hydrocarbon7 aggregates8 in vegetable compounds to operate combustion9 engines. This system produces negligible10 emissions and is truly a low pollution fuel. NRG adds special boosters and additives11 to provide a pleasant natural scent while delivering exceptional12 fuel economy.
“Biofuel is clean, reliable and as safe as the crops it’s made from,” said Brad Snower of Naturally Renewable Group, which manufactures the biofuel. “Best of all, it can be made from Indiana agricultural products, produced by Indiana workers, then used to fuel Indiana vehicles and machines. It’s a win-win-win for the Hoosier13 state.”
With skyrocketing14 fuel prices, increased concerns about dependency on foreign oil and the threat of global warming due to fossil fuel emissions, vegetable based fuels like ESTERHOL(tm) are becoming more and more favorable for businesses and individual consumers alike. ESTERHOL(tm) can be produced from renewable, domestic feed stocks15 such as corn, soybeans16, peanuts, cottonseed, sunflowers, and canola17. Many of these feed stocks are grown in Indiana and surrounding states.
六个多星期以来，一辆普通的垃圾车每晚在印第安纳州的哈蒙德市穿行，沿途装运垃圾并返回车库。但与该市垃圾清运车队的其他车辆相比，却有一点很不寻常——它所使用的燃料不是柴油，而是100%的植物燃料。这种燃料是从类似于印第安纳州所种植的农作物加工而成的。
哈蒙德市的官员们、议员皮特·维斯科罗斯基以及当地的环保人士今天与自然再生集团联合宣布，一个以名为ESTERHOL（商标）的100%植物燃料为该市汽车提供动力的试点项目取得成功。
市政官员今年早些时候已经对这种新燃料进行了测试。测试的数据显示，这种燃料的性能即使不优于也不亚于车辆通常使用的柴油燃料。
哈蒙德市长小托马斯·麦克德默特想要扩大试点项目的范围，让更多的垃圾清运卡车加入其中。
“试验项目的结果显示发动机运转正常，排放的废气更清洁，这种燃料甚至还消除了这类卡车中常见的敲缸现象，”市长麦克德默特说，“我们希望将来可以推广这一项目，让更多的汽车加入进来。”
生物燃料并不是一项新技术。1892年问世的第一台柴油机原本设计为以花生油为燃料。鲁道夫·狄塞尔相信他的发动机可以用各种各样的植物油驱动，但由于以石油为基础的柴油燃料价格更便宜且容易获取，于是柴油迅速成为发动机燃料的首选。
自然再生集团已经找到一个利用燃烧植物化合物中的碳氢聚合体所产生的能量来驱动内燃机的途径。这种方法排放的废气可以忽略不计，是一种真正低污染的燃料。在节能方面表现优异的同时，自然再生集团还在燃料中加入辅助剂和添加剂，使其发出一种自然的香味。
“生物燃料清洁、可靠，如农作物原料一样安全，”生物燃料制造商、自然再生集团的布拉德·斯诺尔说，“最可喜的是，它可以用印第安纳州的农产品加工而成，由印第安纳州的工人生产出来，然后用来为印第安纳州的汽车和机器提供燃料。对于“乡下人州’而言，这是一个三赢的局面。”
随着燃料价格飞涨，以及人们越来越多地关注对国外石油的依赖和因矿物燃料排放导致的全球变暖现象，像ESTERHOL（商标） 这种基于植物的燃料越来越受到工商企业和个体消费者的青睐。ESTERHOL（商标）可以从可再生的国内原料，如玉米、大豆、花生、棉籽、向日葵和油菜籽等加工而成。其中许多原料在印第安纳州和周边各州都有种植。
1. trash n. 垃圾
2. fleet n. 车队；船队
3. pilot adj. 试验性的
4. exhaust n. 排出的废气
5. engine knock 敲缸，发动机爆震
6. readily adv. 容易地；迅速地
7. hydrocarbon n. 碳氢化合物
8. aggregate n. 聚合物
9. combustion n. 燃烧
10. negligible adj. 可以忽略的
11. additiven. 添加剂
12. exceptional adj. 杰出的，异常的
13. Hoosier n. 印第安那州居民的绰号，意思是乡下人，边远居民
14. skyrocket v. 迅速上升，猛涨
15. feed stock 原料
16. soybean n. 大豆
17. canola n. 油菜籽