Destiny Serves as Lab
Wednesday, September 12, 2007By Rick Moriarty Staff writer
Destiny USA's use of biodiesel fuel to run its construction vehicles has drawn the attention of state energy researchers.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority conducted tests Monday and Tuesday on a bulldozer being used in Destiny's expansion of the Carousel Center mall to determine if biodiesel fuel really does burn cleaner than petroleum-based diesel.
Destiny USA is one of the few and most likely the largest construction sites in the country using 100 percent biodiesel to power its construction vehicles. So NYSERDA decided to take the rare opportunity to analyze emissions given off when the vehicles burn petroleum-based, ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, and two different mixtures of biodiesel.
"This is a very interesting opportunity to look at this," said Barry Liebowitz, senior project manager for NYSERDA. "This is, as far as we know, unique."
Biodiesel is made from soybean oil, so it is a renewable fuel source. Its proponents and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency say the fuel gives off fewer greenhouse gases and soot than petroleum diesel. And, unlike its petroleum counterpart, biodiesel has almost no smell.
NYSERDA hired Southern Research Institute, an organization based at Research Triangle Park, in North Carolina, to test the bulldozer running petroleum diesel, then a mix of 50 percent diesel and 50 percent biodiesel, and then fuel made of 100 biodiesel to see what emissions each fuel pumps into the air when burned.
William Crews, senior project leader for the institute, said the bulldozer was operated for a series of 20-minute tests while a probe collected samples from its exhaust pipe. Equipment placed on the roof of the bulldozer analyzed the emissions and sent the data to a laptop computer inside the vehicle's cab.
Engine, Fuel and Emissions Engineering Inc., of Rancho Cordova, Calif., provided the testing equipment and operated it.
Liebowitz said the results will be analyzed and put into a report in about a month. The report will be published by NYSERDA and posted on its Web site,
www.nyserda.org.
Destiny and NYSERDA are splitting the $60,000 cost of the study, but Destiny is not involved in operating any of the testing equipment, he said.
NYSERDA is looking at biodiesel as a way to cut air pollution from construction vehicles and municipal vehicles, such as sanitation trucks. The soot that is shot out with the exhaust from petroleum diesel can cause respiratory problems and possibly even cardiac problems, so anything that reduces it is a good thing, Liebowitz said.
Developer Robert Congel is building a 1.3-million-square- foot addition to the Carousel Center at Syracuse's lakefront, the first step in what he says will be the mall's transformation into a retail, hotel and entertainment center called Destiny USA. He has pledged to power the addition and the existing mall with fossil-free energy sources.
The company recently began flying a green flag next to the American flag on the construction site. Project executive David Aitken said it symbolizes Destiny's "green" building practices.
Staff writer Rick Moriarty can be reached at 470-3148 or
rmoriarty@syracuse.com.