Officials at Marble Valley Regional Transit announced Wednesday the district is about to begin using biodiesel in its buses.

"We've been talking about this on and off for about the last 12 months," spokeswoman Ellen Atkinson said. "When Gov. Douglas came down for the chamber breakfast and talked about keeping Vermont green, we had a powwow and said, 'It makes sense, let's do it.'"

However, Atkinson said they can't start just yet,

"Once we get through the winter season, or maybe if it warms up sooner," she said. "It's only good to a certain temperature. Right now, it could gel up the engine."

Atkinson said biodiesels are made from combining diesel fuel with vegetable oil, animal fat or used cooking oil from restaurants in varying ratios. She said it burns cleaner than regular diesel fuel, creating fewer greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants.

"The cost is a little bit more," she said. "It's about 5 cents more a gallon than regular diesel, but … it's better for the environment. We're biting the bullet on the extra 5 cents a gallon to make Vermont a nicer state."

Other than doing good for the environment, Atkinson said there are no direct benefits to Marble Valley — at least, not yet.

"We're hoping that in the future there might be some subsidy, but right now there is not," she said. "Part of that might be because biodiesel is so new. As more companies catch on, that might lower the price."

Marble Valley's buses use about 155,000 gallons of fuel a year, according to Atkinson.

"Right now, while the ski areas are in operation, there are 35 different buses on the road in a given period," she said.

Andrew Perchlik, executive director of Renewable Energy Vermont, hailed the announcement as great news Thursday.

"We're looking to state government and other folks who use a lot of diesel fuel and heating oil to use a mixture of biofuels in those heaters and engines," he said.

Atkinson said there are no sources of biodiesel in the Rutland area, so Marble Valley is working with a distributor in Albany.

"They have tanker-trucks that'll come here," she said. "We have tanks here — all of our fueling is done on site."

Perchlik said his group is working to change that.

"Today I talked with a company that wants to make biofuel out of wood chips," he said. "We don't have a lot of corn and soybeans to make millions of gallons like they do in the Midwest."

Perchlik said he would like to see Vermont vehicles burn Vermont biodiesel, and getting large vehicle fleets to convert is an important first step.

"For refineries to be built here, they need a local market," he said. "The more this happens, the greater a chance we have of producing it locally."

Contact Gordon Dritschilo at gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com.