AUBURN — Some local students will be riding in greener buses next year.

The Auburn School Department is planning to buy two new propane-fueled buses with the goal of eventually replacing its fleet with them instead of diesel,  business manager Jude Cyr said.

Auburn has 24 buses.

“We have been purchasing two a year. It’s going to take us a while” to convert the entire fleet, Cyr said.

The school department plans to seek bids for two propane buses in January. They would arrive in Auburn in late spring or early summer, Cyr said.

“We’ve been talking about doing something green with our buses, using alternative fuel that is cleaner burning, leaving less of a carbon footprint,” Cyr said.

Looking for diesel alternatives, he contacted the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. That led Auburn to look at propane.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection said Monday that propane buses are a good alternative.

“They are the cleanest burning fuel of the fossil fuels. They do meet the very stringent 2010 emission standards,” said Lynne Cayting, mobile sources and fuel section chief for DEP’s Air Quality Bureau.

It is expensive to convert to propane, she said, but added maintenance costs are less. “And right now the fuel prices are lower.”

Propane is not natural gas, but a byproduct of refining gasoline, Cayting explained.

Auburn would be among the first in Maine to buy propane school buses.

SAD 6 in Standish has the largest fleet with six propane buses. Portland school buses also use an alternative fuel, compressed natural gas, which is even cleaner than propane, Cayting said. Portland can do that because the city’s Metro buses have the natural gas fuel infrastructure.

SAD 6 Superintendent Suzanne Lukas said her district is buying four more propane buses, bringing their total to 10.

“So far they’ve been great,” Lukas said. “Our hope is they’re going to help with energy costs, be more kind to the environment, and the life of these buses are supposed to be longer. They’re mechanically simpler.”

Her district, which has about 66 buses, plans to eventually convert all to propane, she said.

Propane school buses cost more to buy. Cyr said the price is about $89,000, about $7,200 more than a diesel bus.

Because propane buses get better mileage, there is the potential to save Auburn $5,000 per bus per year, Cyr said.

Also, diesel buses need to be kept plugged in overnight during the winter to keep the engines warm. “Propane buses start without assistance, which is an added savings,” Cyr said.

When the propane buses arrive, Auburn will retire two buses, a 1997 with 160,000 miles, and a 1993 with 180,000, Cyr said.

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