· Bio-diesel run bus had negligible hydrocarbons

· Saving is put at 10 paise per kilometre

· Bus run between Dilsukhnagar, Sanatnagar

· Bio-diesel run bus had negligible hydrocarbons

· Saving is put at 10 paise per kilometre

· Bus was run between Dilsukhnagar and Sanatnagar in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Buoyed by the results of a bus run on bio-diesel, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) may pitch in for cheaper and environment friendly fuel for more of its fleet in the coming days, depending on production and pricing.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, T. Chatterjee, Principal Secretary, Environment and Forests, and P.V.D. Jayasankar Prasad, Chief Mechanical Engineer, APSRTC, said a three-month long study showed that bio-diesel run bus had negligible hydrocarbons and 14 per cent lower carbon monoxide content in its emissions compared to a diesel bus.

The saving was put at 10 paise per kilometre of bio-diesel, though the mileage of bio-diesel bus was a shade lesser at 4.54 km per litre against the diesel's 4.60 km.

The saving could be sizable given the fact that the diesel prices have been shooting up.

Air pollution

"We have to look at the overall benefits especially from the environmental angle. The main culprit of air pollution, hydrocarbons that includes leukaemia - causing benzene will not be there," Mr. Chatterjee said.

Mr. Prasad said the tests were conducted in four combinations after the bio-diesel bus was launched with the standard blending of 20 per cent of bio-diesel and 80 per cent diesel. It was run between Dilsukhnagar and Sanatnagar in Hyderabad during the last three months.

Combination of fuels

The four combinations were bio-diesel from jatropha and diesel, pongamia and diesel, only diesel and again pongamia and diesel. In each phase the bus was run for 5,600 km for about 25 days.

"There was no problem anywhere mechanically or otherwise," he added. The bio-diesel was supplied by Nalgonda-based Southern Online Biotech.

The production of jatropha/pongamia is likely to be 30 to 40 tonnes a day by February next year in the State and it could go up to 300 tonnes a day by December 2006.