Beginning this month (March), the Tennessee Eastman Operations will begin switching to a B20  biodiesel blend for its fleet of more than 200 vehicles. Eastman plans to start the transition using a fuel mixture consisting of 5 percent biodiesel and expects to have all of its diesel-burning vehicles switched to B20 biodiesel by April 1.

Eastman expects to use in excess of 60,000 gallons of biodiesel through the remainder of this year.

By itself, this is just a small accomplishment. The real success will come when others in the region make the switch and usage expands beyond Eastman. That’s when the air quality benefits will really begin to take effect.

—Darren Curtis, Eastman Fleet Administrator and Staff Engineer, Kingsport

Headquartered in Kingsport, Tenn., Eastman manufactures and markets plastics, fibers and chemicals. The company has approximately 12,000 employees and had 2003 sales of $5.8 billion.