The City of San Francisco, as part of their effort to eliminate toxins, tested and gained favorable results with WISE bio-hydraulic fluids and greases. State of California — from State Parks to the CA Department of Forestry ("CalFire") — also uses WISE lubricants in their operations.

Here are additional success stories from the US federal government's broad acceptance of WISE technologies.

NOAA Research Vessels use WISE Biolubricants

The Huron Explorer, a 41-ft. former Coast Guard vessel now serving on the Great Lakes is the first modern U.S. research vessel to operate free of petroleum products.
A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) small research vessel is now powered and lubricated by soybeans. The vessel was given an award by the Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program during an Earth Day Week event on the shores of Lake Michigan. "NOAA has a commitment to stewardship of the environment, and this research vessel, the R/V Huron Explorer, demonstrates that commitment in very practical ways. Environmentally friendly vessels are better suited to tread lightly on the ecosystems they help research," said Stephen B. Brandt, NOAA acting deputy assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research.  

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory's Ship Operations Group, headed by Dennis Donahue, expanded the use of bio-hydraulic oil on the Laurentian, an 80-foot research vessel built in 1974. All systems using the bio-hydraulic oil performed satisfactorily without change to pump or equipment performance while contributing to improved onboard storage and reduced inventory. "The biodegradable vegetable oils offer an additional level of environmental protection in case of a spill or leak," Donahue said.  Donahue added that the switch to agri-products has improved the work environment of the ships' crews and scientists." These ships have become real-world field studies that can be used to expand field test data and support other ship conversions," said Donahue.

For more about the NOAA vessel's use of biobased products

Hydraulic Fluid Testimonials

The majority of the US National Parks use WISE formulations in recirculating hydraulic systems, from snow removal to waste management equipment.

U.S. Coast Guard Averts Environmental Clean up
with Biobased Hydraulic Fluid Use

It's interesting what makes users “real believers” in biobased products. James H. Smith (Jim), who works in the U.S. Coast Guard’s Jim Smith saves clean up time and money because he uses biobased hydraulic fluids at the U.S. Coast Guard’s Maintenance Department at The Group Air Station in Atlantic City, N.J. been interested in biobased products for several years, but an experience in the heavy snow of President’s Day weekend 2003 that hit much of the East Coast made him passionate on the subject. “Our job is to take care of the helicopter tarmacs and the parking lots and sidewalks around the Coast Guard facilities here at the Air Station.  While one of our small tractors was clearing a parking lot of snow, a hydraulic hose frayed and sprayed its fluid with a pinstripe over the top of a four-foot high snowdrift along a swath for 10 or 12 feet. Because it was a biobased fluid, all we had to do is fix the hose and keep on moving snow,” explains Smith. “If it had been a petroleum-based fluid, we would have been required to immediately remove the contaminated snow—and there is a lot of it when the snow is four feet deep and you have to take out 10 or 12 feet—haul it into a building where it could be melted and the contaminates collected. All of that being time and money spent on something other than snow removal,” states Jim. But with the biobased product, nothing had to be done. The spill, being biobased and relatively small in volume, would simply melt away with the thaw and be safely absorbed into the environment.

“I’ve always been a believer in biobased products but this small example just shows you how convenient and time saving they can be, too,” Smith says.

As year-round groundskeepers, the Coast Guard Maintenance Department uses a variety of biobased products in a number of tools including mowers, trimmers, chain saws, air compressors and even, a 400 Hz 4-cylinder diesel aircraft ground power unit, used to power aircraft during diagnostic testing and repair.
“Our Hazardous Waste Safety Officer Jeff Schmidt encourages us to find and use biobased products whenever we can,” says Smith. Among the products used there are 2-cycle engine oil, bar and chain oil, penetrating lubricant and even 10W30 oil for the big aircraft power unit. All of these uses are part of the facilitiy’s efforts to comply with Executive Order 13101, Greening of the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling and Federal Acquisition, issued in 1998.