North Jutland considers diesel as biodiesel costs drive bus deficit

North Jutland Region faces a shortfall of 60 million kroner in public transport funding as the rising cost of biodiesel puts ordinary diesel back on the table, DR reports.

Enhedslisten regional council member Susanne Flydtkjær says she could support a temporary return to fossil diesel if it is needed to keep buses running and ensure people can get to education and work.

“If we need to find the money to secure public transport, so people can get to education and work, then it is of course clearly an option temporarily,” she says.

Flydtkjær says the region would have to identify other ways to reduce carbon emissions during the period.

The main reason for the deficit is rising fuel prices, particularly for the more climate-friendly biodiesel used by many of the buses. According to fuel company OK, biodiesel currently costs more than nine kroner extra per litre compared with conventional fossil diesel.

Current contracts create legal obstacles

A switch may not be possible immediately. Erik Frederiksen, operations manager at Nordjyllands Trafikselskab, says current agreements do not legally allow the company to change to a fuel with a worse environmental impact.

“The next time we enter into a new agreement, other products will hopefully have come onto the market, allowing us perhaps to switch to electric buses on the very long routes we operate,” he says.

Several public transport companies elsewhere in Denmark, including Midttrafik, have already abandoned biodiesel because of its high cost.