Enterprise Holdings announces biodiesel plans

Enterprise Holdings, the owner and operator of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands, has announced plans to convert some of its airport shuttle buses to use biodiesel.

The company will set about converting increased numbers of its buses to 20 per cent biodiesel (B20) as well as exploring other clean fuel options.

This comes after it has already converted its fleet of buses to biodiesel in over North American markets.

It has already converted all of its shuttle buses within five miles of a biodiesel fuelling station to be able to use the fuel, with more than 70 per cent of its buses now running on biodiesel.

Currently around half of its fleet use B5 fuel while more than 20 per cent use B20.

Enterprise states that by the end of this year, all of its older buses will be replaced with new B20-compatible models meaning that more than 80 per cent of its total shuttle bus fleet will run on biodiesel.

Lee Broughton, head of corporate sustainability at Enterprise Holdings, said: "We are steadily converting our shuttle fleet as biodiesel becomes accessible to more and more of our airport locations.

"We made this commitment to biodiesel with the understanding that it must make economic and environmental sense in each airport market where we operate.

"We're encouraged by the increasing access to this cleaner burning fuel, and look forward to additional conversion when it's readily available in even more markets."

What's more, as well as Enterprise's commitment to biodiesel, it also runs 30 buses fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG) in Southern California.

It plans to add ten similar buses this year including four in Southern California and six at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

Since 2006, Enterprise's owners, the Taylor family, have given $35 million to the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.

Its Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels researches and develops sustainable methods of creating next-generation biofuels from non-food crops.