CHICOPEE If you've been filling up your diesel vehicle for the last two weeks at any area Pride station, then you've been helping out the environment and you didn't even know it. Pride President Robert Bolduc revealed at a press conference Wednesday at one of his Chicopee stations that Pride has switched from a pure diesel fuel to a hybrid: 95 percent petroleum and five percent vegetable oil. Bolduc's move makes his group of fuel stations the only chain in the state to offer the bio-fuel blend. Bolduc said he plans to gradually increase the amount of vegetable oil up to 20 percent. Bolduc said he would like to see more stations take his lead. The switch to a bio-fuel blend is good for the environment and for American farmers. Bolduc said the vegetable oil increases the lubrication of the fuel, potentially adding life to an engine. The new fuel runs cleaner and cooler, he added. The vegetable oil is a blend of recycled cooking oil and new product he said. There is no price difference at the pump. The bio-fuel blend will sell at the same price as the standard diesel fuel. Michael Garjian of Easthampton said he certainly saw no difference in how his Mercedes has run for the past two weeks. Garjian drove to Chicopee at the time of the news conference to make sure he was filling his tank with a bio-fuel blend. He thought Bolduc's decision to switch to a greener fuel was "wonderful." Diesel fuels sales accounts for about 20 percent of Pride's business, Bolduc said. Before selling it, Bolduc tested the new fuel in his company's diesel vehicles. Bolduc's stations also feature a gasoline that is 10 percent ethanol, the highest amount currently allowed by law. He said he was thinking of a new slogan for his business: "Fill up. Feel good." | ||||||
