Arizona city Mesa running hundreds of city vehicles on bio-diesel

In an effort to reduce emissions and clean up the air the City of Mesa has switched hundreds of vehicles over to bio-diesel and other alternative fuels.

The move comes as the city struggles with big budget problems. City officials say the switch to cleaner fuels is not making their budget deficit worse now in the short term. They also say that in the long run, it will actually save quite a bit of money.

At a whopping 2 or 3 miles to the gallon, fire trucks are not exactly environmentally friendly to operate but the City of Mesa is taking steps to make them run a little bit cleaner. From fire trucks to sewer trucks, all city diesel vehicles are now running on bio-diesel. They are supposed to be cleaner and not much more expensive. Many of the city's gas-powered cars, like police cars, now run on natural gas.

Mesa is not alone making the switch to cleaner fuels. Cities around the country are doing the same thing to meet a federal mandate to cut emissions from fleet vehicles.

Here's a breakdown of the alternative fuels Mesa is now using on more than 1,200 vehicles. Most are running on natural gas while ethanol and bio-diesel make up about a quarter each.

Mesa's move toward even cleaner fuels will continue. Within the next year Mesa's diesel fleet will use a mix made of 99% vegetable oil. They say the trucks do not run quite as well on the bio-diesel but since Mesa's pretty flat and most of the trucks do not need to go very fast it is not a big deal.