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Thanksgiving Coffee First Private Fleet In California To Use 100% Biodiesel In Delivery Operations

Thanksgiving Coffee First Private Fleet In California To Use 100% Biodiesel In Delivery Operations

Published 09-30-02

Submitted by Thanksgiving Coffee Company

Ft. BRAGG, Calfornia - Motorists will soon notice an aroma of french fries on northern California’s highways. It won’t be coming from a roadside fast food chain, but from Thanksgiving Coffee Company’s delivery trucks. The fleet will be running on biodiesel, an alternative fuel made from vegetable oil that greatly reduces harmful emissions.

Thanksgiving Coffee is a socially and environmentally responsible coffee roaster that has taken a big step in further reducing the impacts its operations have on the planet. The company applied for and was granted AB 2766 funds -also known as the Transportation Fund for Clean Air- to offset the difference in cost in fueling its fleet with biodiesel rather than petroleum diesel. These resources are allotted to county Air Quality Management Districts by the State Department of Motor Vehicles in order to finance projects that reduce emissions within those districts.

Though more than 200 public and government agencies currently use biodiesel, Thanksgiving Coffee is the first private fleet in the state of California to use B100 -pure biodiesel- in its delivery operations, and joins only a handful of private fleets nationwide using the fuel.

"We think it’s wonderful to see a private company like this taking a proactive approach in protecting the environment while contributing to our economy and domestic energy security," said Bob Metz, president of the National Biodiesel Board, the non-profit trade association for the biodiesel industry.

Biodiesel is made from renewable resources like new or used vegetable oils or animal fats. It is non-toxic, biodegradable, and can be used in any diesel engine. Harmful carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by 80%, and carbon monoxide emissions are an average 44% lower than those of petroleum diesel. When using pure biodiesel, the cancer risk of diesel exhaust is reduced by 90%, and the smog-forming potential is nearly 50% less than petroleum diesel.

Yokayo Biofuels, located in Ukiah, will make regular deliveries of biodiesel to the Thanksgiving Coffee facilities in Ft. Bragg, where the trucks will fuel up before departing for their delivery routes. A network of biodiesel fueling stations in northern California will provide the fleet with the fuel on the road, though it can be blended with regular petroleum diesel if biodiesel is not available.

Thanksgiving Coffee Company strives to mitigate the environmental impacts their business has on the planet, and this is not the first time they have taken measures to offset greenhouse gases. In 2001, they financed an assessment by the non-profit Trees for the Future to determine carbon emissions produced in the processing, delivery, and consumption of Thanksgiving Coffee, and is planting about 75,000 trees in Ethiopia -the birthplace of coffee- to alleviate those effects.

Thanksgiving Coffee Company

Thanksgiving Coffee Company

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