Carmel, Indiana, Street Department earns clean-air award for new soy-based biodiesel truck program

From left, James Rundle, supervisor for the Carmel Street Department; Jason Armes, fleet manager; Chris Weldon, market development project manager at Indiana Soybean Alliance; Shaun Privett, foreman for the Carmel Street Department. (Photo: The City of Carmel)

In Indiana, the Carmel Street Department’s dedication to lowering emissions by adding trucks powered by 20 percent biodiesel (B20) made from soybean oil to its fleet of vehicles has earned it the honor of being a “Clean Air Champion for Biodiesel” by Greater Indiana Clean Cities Inc.

The award was presented Dec. 6 at the 2023 Indiana Environmental Conference and Winter Technical Meeting.

The award recognizes the street department’s work with the B20 Club of Indiana and Al Warren Oil Company to initiate a successful B20 pilot program to lower emissions and boost the performance of the department’s vehicles.

“During the last two years, we have attended several trainings and conferences on the benefits of B20,” said Jason Armes, fleet manager for the street department.

“After much consideration, we decided to start a pilot program here at the street department,” he continued. “We then became members of the B20 Club of Indiana and got the ball rolling.”

This past summer, the street department acquired six 2023 Ford F250 trucks with diesel engines to begin the pilot program.

At that time, a partnership was established with Al Warren Oil Company to provide the city with the B20 blend at the street department. 

The department also partnered with GPS provider Geotab to produce the formula to track the emissions output of these trucks and compare them with regular diesel and 87-octane gasoline.

Over time, the city will be able to provide the data to show the benefits of using a biodiesel product.