In the 1830s, Chicago’s emerging government adopted the motto “Urbs in
horto,” a Latin phase meaning “City in a Garden.” For nearly two centuries
since, the city has worked hard to live up to this ideal.
The story begins with the protection of miles and miles of lakefront; and the
creation of parks shaped by nationally acclaimed architects, planners and
landscape designers — such as Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmstead
Sr., Jens Jensen and Alfred Caldwell.
Chicago is best known for sprawling lakefront parks such as Lincoln Park and
Grant Park, but its residents also enjoy neighborhood green space and field
houses year round. All told, the Chicago Park
District, created in 1934, owns more than
8,800 acres of green space — making it the largest municipal park manager in the
nation.
One of the Park District’s core values is preserving a world-class park system
for generations to come. One of its strategies for a resilient future is to keep
its operations efficient and environmentally friendly.
Since 2013, the Park District has used biodiesel, which burns cleaner than
ordinary diesel fuel, to fuel park equipment ranging from lawnmowers to beach
combers to log loader trucks (biodiesel can’t run in gasoline engines because it
needs an engine that ignites by compression). The district partners with
Darling Ingredients — which collects and donates used cooking oil that is
then processed into biodiesel at Renewable Energy Group’s plant in Seneca,
Illinois.
The Chicago Park District blends the manufactured biodiesel on-site with
petroleum diesel, resulting in fuels of up to 50 percent biodiesel. These
cleaner-burning biodiesel blends improve air quality by lowering vehicle
tailpipe emissions, including unburned hydrocarbons and particulate matter.
A recent pilot program in partnership with the Illinois Soybean
Association checkoff program and the American Lung
Association went a step further, by testing 100 percent
biodiesel (B100) in some vehicles.
Most diesel engines are not compatible with pure biodiesel. So, early last year
the Park District worked with Optimus Technologies — which has developed an
innovative fuel system that enables diesel engines to run almost entirely on
renewable biodiesel. They outfitted two garbage trucks, which collect trash on
Chicago’s lakefront and in nearby parks, to run on B100.
Image credit: Chicago Park District
The Park District chose refuse haulers because they typically travel at low
speeds and require frequent stops, creating potential for increased soot and
emissions.
In the pilot project’s first year, participating trucks logged 12,000 miles and
2,690 hours of operation. The reduction in carbon dioxide emissions is the
equivalent of planting 419 trees in Chicago parks annually.
The Park District’s B100 program reduces greenhouse gas emissions and
particulates by 84 percent compared to standard, low-sulfur diesel fuel;
according to a lifecycle analysis by Renewable Energy Group, the biodiesel
producer. The analysis accounted for the process of recycling cooking oil from
Chicago restaurants and transporting the fuel back to Chicago from the biodiesel
plant.
“Through the B100 project, we are seeing unprecedented reductions in carbon
emissions, supporting a healthier and more sustainable environment for the
people of Chicago,” said Mike Dimitroff of the Chicago Park District’s
Department of Cultural and Natural Resources. “You would be hard pressed to find
a more sustainable option for our refuse trucks than B100 biodiesel.”
The positive outcomes of the B100 pilot program have the Park District exploring
ways to use 100 percent biodiesel in other park vehicles. About 200 park
vehicles run on fuel blends containing 10 to 20 percent biodiesel, and another
56 vehicles run on blends of 10 to 50 percent.
The Park District’s biodiesel-powered vehicle program far surpasses the Illinois
mandate that government fleets use at least 5 percent biodiesel. By pursuing
higher aspirations, the Park District tries to honor its inheritance and build
for the next generation.
The Illinois Soybean Association checkoff program supports the Chicago Park
District pilot program and other biodiesel projects. For more stories on how
clean-burning, renewable biodiesel benefits the environment, visit
b20club.org.
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Illinois Soybean Association
Published Oct 22, 2020 7am EDT / 4am PDT / 12pm BST / 1pm CEST