Westchester County, which is seeking to reduce emissions and the county's use of petroleum products, has begun testing a new fuel in Bee-Line buses. The new fuel is 5 percent soy-based bio-fuel and 95 percent ultra-low-sulfur diesel.

"Taking this one small step - simply switching to a blended fuel that uses less petroleum by adding biodiesel - can make a significant difference when it comes to protecting the environment," County Executive Andrew Spano said. "And if it works like we expect, we'll move on to an even cleaner fuel."

According to the Journal News, the county's fleet of 367 buses consumes 3.5 million gallons of fuel a year. Westchester is getting the new, more expensive fuel at the same price - $2.09 per gallon, according to Transportation Commissioner Larry Salley.

"Our engines are totally covered by manufacturers' warranties in the use of this new fuel, but we want to test it out ourselves before we make the leap to even bigger blends of biodiesel," Salley said. The fuel will be tested in about 30 percent of buses. Come the end of the year, Westchester will determine whether to continue or expand the use of the fuel to the entire fleet, or switch to a fuel containing even less petroleum. The goal is to use fuel that is 20 percent biodiesel.