Seattle eyeing different biodiesel

SEATTLE, Mich., June 19 (UPI) -- Seattle may soon fuel city vehicles with a different form of biodiesel, one that is created from waste grease, a city official says.

Brenda Bauer, Seattle's Fleets and Facilities Department director, said the city temporarily stopped purchasing a soy-based biodiesel fuel following a report that ethanol production could be harmful to the environment, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said Friday.

Bauer said the Environmental Protection Agency report that ethanol production may be environmentally more harmful than gasoline led city officials to investigate other alternative fuels.

"Fuels are really complex," she told the Post-Intelligencer. "We are trying to stay ahead of the curve in terms of finding fuels that are responsible fuels that will help us reduce our petroleum consumption. We're looking for a fuel source that has a good greenhouse-gas profile -- ultimately it's not going to be petroleum."

Bauer added the food production byproducts used to create the grease-based biodiesel could also result in less local waste being placed in area landfills.