Christchurch urban bus and coach tour company Leopard Coachlines has changed over to a biodiesel blend for its entire fleet of 100 vehicles. Leopard had been trialing two of its buses on biodiesel in conjunction with Canterbury regional council Environment Canterbury (ECan) since September, last year but had now moved to run its whole fleet on a five percent biodiesel blend (B5.

Leopard believed it was the first bus company in the country to run all its buses on a biodiesel blend - a year ahead of government requirements.

"ECan's results from the trial to date indicate a five percent reduction in the emissions of carbon monoxide and particulates as a result of using the B5 mix, both of which are very significant for our urban fleet," says Martz Witty from Leopard.

The biodiesel is manufactured from tallow by Bio Diesel Oils NZ and supplied in bulk to Leopard where it is blended with standard diesel to form the B5 mix.