YSR uses B-20 vehicle

Chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who has been campaigning for the promotion of biodiesel production in the state, has become the first leader in the state to use the official vehicle that is being run on the fuel mixed with biodiesel.

Christened as B-20 vehicles, the fuel used in these vehicles is a mix of ordinary diesel and biodiesel at 80:20 ratio. T Chatterjee, principal secretary, department of environment and forests, Andhra Pradesh, disclosed this here today.

He said that the government is considering a proposal to convert all the diesel vehicles in the city to B-20 fuel vehicles. In June 2005, an APSRTC bus using B-20 fuel was launched on the busy Dilsuknagar-Sanatnagar route by the chief minister himself.

According to Chatterjee, the B-20 fuel is giving a mileage of 4.45 km a litre as compared to 4.60 km by the ordinary diesel.

"Despite the very marginal decrease in the mileage, the B-20 fuel offers several positive features like reduced pollution levels, thereby reducing the incidence of diseases such as cancer," he told the media.