AN oil company is pioneering an environmentally-friendly green fuel on Teesside.
Petroplus, the Dutch-owned oil group which owns and operates the Teesside Refinery, has begun blending its Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) with oil from a renewable fuel source.
The £250,000 investment at the company's North Tees site has resulted in a diesel fuel that the company is now marketing to commercial hauliers and large bus and coach operators under the brand name of Bio-Plus.
The fuel will result in substantially lower carbon dioxide emissions from vehicle exhausts and - at Petroplus' current capacity of 20,000 tonnes of Bio-Plus per month - a reduction of about 90,000 barrels of conventional oil per year.
Petroplus will expand the capacity of Bio-Plus at North Tees if the fuel proves popular and demand can be sustained.
About a quarter of its distribution fleet has already begun using the fuel, as have vehicles belonging to Hartlepool Borough Council, near to where the refinery is located.
Bio-Plus can be manufactured using vegetable seed oil from rape, soy or palm.
Petroplus is the first UK refiner and one of only three manufacturers of a similar product nationwide and has carried out extensive research and product development to ensure it can be used efficiently in diesel engines.
Stephen Thomason, Petroplus marketing director, said: "Bio-Plus has great potential and we are confident it can be good for business and for the environment."
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