Sustainable Fuels at Yale
Yale Alternative Fuels Initiatives
The goal of Yale Transportation Options’ Alternative Fuels initiatives is to help the University reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 10% below 1990 levels by 2020, which equates to a 43% reduction below 2005 levels.
To this end, All Yale Shuttles began running on a blend of Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) and 20% Biodiesel (B20) in the academic year 2006/07. This resulted in a decrease in sulfur content from 500 parts per million (ppm) to 50 ppm and reduced Yale’s transportation based petroleum consumption by 20% or 20,000 gallons.
A student biodiesel initiative started in 2005 resulted in a partnership with Yale Transit to operate one Yale Shuttle on 100% biodiesel (B100), produced by converting vegetable oil waste from dining halls. This initiative showed that dining halls could provide enough B100 to produce 1,500 gallons of transportation fuel. The Yale Shuttle System uses 80,000 gallons of fuel per year.
The University currently has seven hybrid (not including President Levin’s own personal Prius!) and five electric vehicles in its’ fleet and is exploring the opportunities for expansion into these alternative fuel realms.
Of the 26 Zipcars (carshare vehicles) on campus, several are hybrids, and all Zipcars are among the most fuel-efficient cars available on the market today. Zipcars allow (on average) 50 members to share one car. Imagine if all those members had their own cars!
Research into available alternative fuel technologies to power the university's shuttle system and other fleet vehicles is ongoing. Please check this page for new information as it becomes available.
Last Updated: November 12, 2009 (vm).
