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Bio-diesel is a blend of conventional diesel fuel and blend stocks made from fatty substances such as soybean oil and waste cooking oil. Most diesel vehicles can use bio-diesel fuel at up to 5 percent concentrations (B5) without modifying the vehicle's fuel system and power train, and some diesels are modified to use higher concentrations, such as 20 percent or 100 percent (B20 or B100). One important benefit of bio-diesel is that it adds needed lubricity to diesel fuel.
All diesel engines, especially advanced common rail diesel engines like those used in our motorcoaches, operate at extremely high pressures and require good lubricity in the fuel to prevent wear. It is also critical that any bio-diesel fuel meet certain specifications to ensure that it will work properly in today's sophisticated motorcoach engines. All motorcoaches require good quality fuel to minimize emissions and optimize engine performance. Diesel technology has recently surpassed the gasoline engine in delivering the cleanest emissions.
Efficiency facts:
The Union of Concerned Scientists, an activist group known for its environmental advocacy, recently released a report titled "Getting There Greener: The Guide To Your Lower Carbon Vacation" in which they recommended going by bus. "A couple traveling on a motorcoach will generate nearly 50 percent less global warming pollution than they would driving a hybrid car," the scientists concurred.
Motorcoaches lead every other travel mode in terms of their fuel efficiency on a per-passenger basis, averaging more than 200 passenger miles per gallon, according to an updated study by MJ Bradley & Associates, "Updated Comparison of Energy Use & Emissions From Different Transportation Modes," which looked at 14 travel modes.
"Independent scientific and academic third parties are corroborating that buses are the greenest way to travel."
"As energy conservation and environmental issues take center stage in Congress and with the traveling public, the motorcoach industry is proud to be the leader in transportation fuel efficiency," American Bus Association President Peter J. Pantuso said.
Motorcoaches are doing their part to help the U.S. achieve energy security.
"The motorcoach transportation service industry is the number one people mover," the study reports. "In 2005 the industry carried 631 million passengers in the United States and Canada alone. The motorcoach transportation service industry carries one-fourth more passengers than the airline industry and twice more than Amtrak and commuter rail combined," according to the study.
"Motorcoaches move nearly as many passengers each year as planes and more than trains," Pantuso told the commission. "We move more people in two weeks than Amtrak moves in one year. Coaches reduce congestion and pollution by taking more than 425 million cars off the road each year. Coaches provide the same congestion mitigation benefits as transit buses in that we have the capacity to take up to 55 cars, per coach, off the road at one time." Motorcoaches also play a crucial role in reducing energy use and in helping America reduce its dependence on foreign sources of fuel, Pantuso told the panel.
| MODE | Pass-mi/Gal** | Btu/pass-mi | CO2 g/pass-mi | ||||||
| low | AVG | high | low | AVG | high | low | AVG | high | |
| Motor Coach | 160.0 | 184.4 | 201.5 | 685 | 749 | 862 | 51 | 56 | 64 |
| Van Pool | 28.2 | 101.9 | 194.6 | 709 | 1354 | 4891 | 53 | 101 | 364 |
| Heavy Rail | 47.0 | 155.3 | 200.6 | 688 | 889 | 2939 | 121 | 156 | 517 |
| Commuter Rail | 58.2 | 85.8 | 249.1 | 1127 | 1608 | 2372 | 108 | 177 | 286 |
| Intercity Rail | 52.4 | 66.0 | 175.7 | 785 | 2091 | 2635 | 138 | 179 | 196 |
| Car Pool - 2 Person | 41.2 | 55.4 | 111.4 | 1239 | 2492 | 3353 | 92 | 185 | 250 |
| Light Rail | 14.4 | 120.5 | 214.9 | 642 | 1146 | 9596 | 113 | 202 | 1689 |
| Trolley Bus | 53.4 | 104.4 | 122.1 | 1130 | 1321 | 2582 | 199 | 233 | 454 |
| Car - Avg Trip | 32.5 | 43.8 | 88.0 | 1569 | 3154 | 4244 | 117 | 235 | 316 |
| Domestic Air | - | 42.3 | - | - | 3260 | - | - | 243 | - |
| Transit Bus | 3.9 | 32.5 | 126.8 | 1088 | 4245 | 35123 | 81 | 299 | 2615 |
| Car - 1 Person | 20.6 | 27.7 | 55.7 | 2478 | 4983 | 6706 | 184 | 371 | 499 |
| Ferry Boat | 2.0 | 12.6 | 31.0 | 4447 | 10987 | 68632 | 331 | 818 | 5109 |
| Demand Response | 1.4 | 9.5 | 48.1 | 2819 | 14562 | 99468 | 212 | 1063 | 7401 |
Motorcoaches are the most fuel-efficient transportation mode in North America, when measured in terms of passenger miles per gallon of fuel.
Motorcoaches emit the least carbon dioxide (CO2) per passenger mile when compared to other vehicles, and are on average 6 times more energy and fuel-efficient than single occupancy automobiles. Carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by an average of 85% per passenger mile for every person who chooses motorcoach travel instead of driving alone. Motorcoaches are 3 times more efficient in reducing CO2 output when compared to commuter rail, and 5 times more efficient than transit buses.
When you go by motorcoach, you go green. That's what this information is all about. Expensive, future technologies to fight climate change aren't years and billions of dollars away. They're right here today. Whether running on various blends of ultra-low sulfur or bio-diesel fuel, motorcoaches are part of America's energy solution. The best example of environmental stewardship that applies to all motorcoaches on the roads today is their superior passenger fuel efficiency compared to other transportation sectors. The motorcoach industry accounts for 631,000,000 passenger trips annually, that's more than 11,000 fewer cars on America's congested roadways. 55 more automobiles or 1 motorcoach, what would you rather share the road with?