Hornblower Cruises & Events is an environmental step ahead of the rest. The eco-friendly company is the first commercial business operating in the Port of San Diego to voluntarily switch to biodiesel fuel. While all vessels in the San Diego Bay can use ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, Hornblower goes the extra nautical mile by further reducing its emissions. The company has teamed up with General Petroleum, an environmentally conscious fuel company that provides New Leaf Biofuels, an ultra-low biodiesel blend.
"We started testing the new biofuels in our San Diego fleet in October of 2007," explained Tegan Firth, Hornblower's Corporate Public Relations Manager. "We then converted the entire fleet that December. Each vessel now uses the 20 percent blend of fuel."
Why did Hornblower make the switch to eco-friendly fuels? "We're constantly looking for ways to make our operations more environmental friendly," said Firth. "As new technologies are developed, we evaluate them, and New Leaf Biofuels seemed appropriate for us."
The move to a domestically produced, non-toxic, non-carcinogenic biodiesel fuel underscores Hornblower's corporate commitment—"Respect Our Planet." This dovetails with the needs of San Diego Bay, which is home to an entire ecosystem of marine inhabitants.
(19)
Hornblower recently took a step to increase the efficiency of its flagship vessel in San Diego. "We converted the Lord Hornblower to run on two Tier 2 marine diesel engines, which are about 80 percent more fuel efficient that standard marine diesel engines," said Firth.
The company runs and operates eight charter yachts, dining cruises, and sightseeing vessels in San Diego Bay. It has provided nautical venues for weddings, birthdays and anniversaries with celebrations of all kinds for over 28 years. Going green gives them one more thing to toot their horn about.
Alex A. Kecskes is a freelance writer/journalist and frequent contributor to LUCID magazine, 944 magazine, ME/ME2 magazine, socal.com entertainment, divorce360.com, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and many others. He has interviewed such major celebrities as Sylvester Stallone, Naomi Watts, Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly and Alan Rickman. His article in the August '08 issue of ME magazine features Natalie Portman's Té Casan vegan collection of specialty footwear. He also freelances as a writer/creative director for several California ad agencies.
