Law to Increase Fuel Economy to 35 mpg by 2020

A new law signed by President George W. Bush in December authorizes the U.S. Department of Transportation to set tougher fuel economy standards starting in model year (MY) 2011. Outlined in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, the new standard authorizes vehicles sold in the United States to achieve a combined corporate average fuel economy of at least 35 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2020. It applies to passenger and nonpassenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of up to 10,000 lbs. and includes sedans and light trucks. Vehicles in this weight range currently achieve 22.5 mpg to 27.5 mpg--an average of about 25 mpg.

According to the Alliance to Save Energy, EISA provisions could result in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 28 million cars off the road.

Also under EISA, automaker credits for producing E85-capable flexible fuel vehicles will begin to phase out starting in MY 2015. The credits will be completely eliminated in MY 2020.

Other provisions authorized by EISA include:

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency creating guidelines for a national labeling system to show tire impact on fuel economy.
• Federal fleets refraining from purchasing light- and medium-duty passenger vehicles with high greenhouse gas emissions, decreasing petroleum consumption by 20% by 2015, and increasing alternative fuel use by 10% per year.
• The National Academy of Sciences conducting studies on available technologies that can help manufacturers meet the new standards, as well as on how fuel economy standards could be set for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
• Government and industry establishing grants, loan guarantees, and other incentives for advanced vehicle technologies.

For more information on EISA, read the White House press release.

Tucson Coalition Helps Super Bowl Go Green

When Tucson Clean Cities Coordinator Colleen Crowninshield read that the National Football League (NFL) and Fox Sports were going green for this year's Phoenix-hosted Super Bowl, she took action. Recognizing an opportunity to showcase alternative fuels and vehicles in one of television's largest events, she tracked down NFL Director of Environment Jack Groh to get involved.

To her surprise, Groh--a former consultant to Clean Cities--promptly returned her call and asked her to help. "Because he's worked with Clean Cities, he knew it was a credible group and that he could trust us to get it done," Crowninshield says.

She lived up to the reputation. In only three months, Crowninshield and Tucson coalition member ORYXE Energy, a Phoenix-based biodiesel additive manufacturer, executed a plan that resulted in:

• Western State Petroleum installing Phoenix's first E85 pump one week before the Super Bowl.
• Fox Sports chartering a local bus company to transport more than 400 employees around Phoenix in a B20-powered shuttle during Super Bowl week.
• Fox Sports providing flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) and hybrids for company executives and designated VIPs to get around Phoenix during Super Bowl week.
• General Motors complementing its fleet of VIP vehicles with FFVs and hybrids.
• Ensuring that B99 (99% biodiesel, 1% diesel) was used in stadium portable generator sets.

Western State Petroleum supplied the fuels used in the event's vehicles and generators that week. Fox and General Motors used more than 1,500 gallons of E85 in their vehicles that week, says Crowninshield, adding that biodiesel statistics are not available due to Western State's contractual terms with its supplier.

Crowninshield and ORYXE's efforts paid off. She says the NFL invited them to help with Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Fla., next year.

Bus Drivers Pledge to Reduce Idling by Five Minutes a Day

As of February 2008, 435 Utah school bus drivers have attended idle reduction education and awareness training hosted by Utah Clean Cities (UCC) and pledged to reduce idling by at least five minutes a day.

UCC, along with the National Energy Foundation (NEF), Utah State Office of Education, and the Nevada Energy Office, received a U.S. Department of Energy grant to develop and implement the idle reduction training program to educate school bus drivers on the harmful effects of engine idling. Drivers from the Washington County, Salt Lake City, and Cache Valley districts have completed training, and three Nevada school districts will start the program offered by the Eastern Sierra Regional coalition in Reno.

According to Utah Coordinator Robin Erickson, NEF is writing the curriculum, while UCC is working with the school districts on revisions and changes. All six districts in Utah and Nevada are serving as test cases for the program. Once the testing period is complete, the curriculum will be made available nationwide with the help of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, the National School Boards Associations, and other Clean Cities coalitions.

"We are having a tremendous amount of support with this program and feel there could actually be an average reduction of approximately 10 minutes a day per driver when the project is completed," says Erickson.

The Utah Board of Education curriculum committee agreed to adopt the training program by the end of 2008. There have also been recommendations to add the idle reduction training to the Utah Standards for Utah School Bus and Operators program.

DOE Designates New Orleans Coalition

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently designated the Southeast Louisiana Clean Fuel Partnership (SLCFP) as Clean Cities' eighty-sixth active coalition. Based in New Orleans, SLCFP is the state's second coalition--Greater Baton Rouge was launched in April 2000. Stephanie Pedro leads the new group.

DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Andy Karsner and Vehicle Technologies Program Manager Ed Wall welcomed SLCFP at a ceremony at Mardi Gras World on March 26.

In related news, the new coalition helped local float builder Kern Studios use a low-level biodiesel blend to power 100 tractors that pulled 1,000 floats in 19 different 2008 Mardi Gras parades. The emission-reducing initiative was part of SLCFP's "Let's Clean the Air over Mardi Gras" campaign.

Salathe Oil Co. supplied the blend, which was produced locally and dispensed into the tractors at the start of each parade route.

Vermont Event Shares Study Findings

Last December, Vermont Clean Cities teamed up with the University of Vermont's (UVM) Transportation Center to host The Future of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles, an event to educate citizens and stakeholders on the findings from the first phase of a study conducted by the UVM and Green Mountain College.

The report, Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles and the Vermont Grid: A Scoping Analysis (PDF 951 KB) Download Adobe Reader, studies the impact of switching a portion of the state's light-duty fleet to electric vehicles.

According to the report, Vermont's electric grid is capable of charging 100,000 PHEVs nightly. Because a high percentage of the state's energy supply comes from hydro and nuclear power, its electricity is relatively clean, making PHEVs an environmentally sound choice. Their use can reduce Vermont's carbon emissions by 31% and petroleum consumption by more than 11 million gallons if 50,000 gasoline-powered cars were replaced with PHEVs, the study concludes.

DOE Offers $30 Million in Cost-Share Funding for Improving PHEV Performance

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced in January $30 million in cost-share funding over the next three years for companies to design and build plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and test them in geographically diverse fleets.

The cost and performance of PHEV batteries are two critical issues that need to be resolved before DOE can reach its goal of PHEVs being on the market by 2016. The funding will be awarded to select projects that result in a PHEV battery range of 40 miles (PHEV-40) without recharging in vehicles that are comparable to current-production vehicles in terms of emissions, safety, and comfort. A 40-mile range covers the average daily roundtrip commute and 70% of daily travel in the U.S.

DOE will provide $7 million in fiscal year (FY) 2008 and $23 million in FYs 2009 and 2010. Awarded companies are required to match DOE funding by at least 50%.

Second-round applications are due on April 30. For more information, read DOE's press release or the funding solicitation on DOE's e-Center Web site.

IRS Site Features Heavy-Duty Vehicle List

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) now offers a convenient list of heavy-duty vehicles (HDV) eligible for credits. This easy-to-use index lists HDVs by manufacturer and displays credit amounts the vehicles are eligible for.

According to the IRS, qualifying alternative fuel HDVs are new vehicles or existing, prior-use, in-service vehicles repowered to use alternative fuels by an aftermarket installer. Qualifying heavy hybrids must be new, have a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 8,500 lbs., and draw propulsion energy from onboard stored energy sources.

Visit the IRS site to find the list of qualified models and retrofits and specific credit amounts. To claim a credit, which can range from $4,000 to $32,000, use IRS Form 8910 (PDF 268 KB) Download Adobe Reader.

Credits available for light-duty alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles are detailed on a separate IRS list.

Alamo Clean Cities Develops Hybrid Taxicab Replacement Program

In spring 2007, Alamo Clean Cities Coordinator Andrew Hudgins and representatives from the City of San Antonio sat down with members of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the taxicab industry to discuss the environmental and cost benefits of switching from petroleum-powered vehicles to hybrids.

According to Hudgins, their approach was to tout the "fuel savings, lower emissions, and 'green public image' that would come as a result of switching to hybrid taxis." The meeting eventually led to the passage of a city ordinance establishing the Hybrid Taxicab Replacement Program, a voluntary initiative that offers cab companies additional vehicle permits as an incentive to replace their current combustion-engine vehicles with hybrid taxis. The goal of the program is to swap all of the area's conventional taxis with hybrids.

As of March 2008, 65 hybrid cabs, operated by 16 of the 25 local cab companies, were cruising the streets of San Antonio as part of the program. Petroleum reductions have not yet been measured.

Alamo Clean Cities continues to provide technical assistance to the taxicab program and more recently helped the city become part of the TCEQ's Green and Go Partnership. The program works to increase public awareness of hybrid vehicles and help eliminate roadblocks to getting hybrids incorporated into taxi fleets.

Final Rule Concludes No AFV Mandate for Private and Local Fleets

On March 6, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a final rule (PDF 227 KB) Download Adobe Reader concluding it will not implement an alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) acquisition mandate on private and local government (PLG) fleets.

According to DOE, instituting an AFV requirement for PLG fleets is not necessary to achieve the recently modified Replacement Fuel Goal (RFG), which extends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 objective to achieve a replacement fuel production capacity sufficient to replace 30% of the U.S. petroleum consumption from 2010 to 2030.

The final rulemaking on the Private and Local Government Fleet Determination fulfills a court order handed down by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in response to a lawsuit filed against DOE for its January 2004 decision not to implement an AFV mandate for PLG fleets. The modification of the RFG was also part of the lawsuit.

For more information on the PLG Fleet Determination and RFG rulemakings, visit the EPAct Web site.

Business Case for Installing E85 at Retail Stations

This four-page Clean Cities fact sheet summarizes E85 Retail Business Case: When and Why to Sell E85 (PDF 654 KB), a report that helps gas station retailers determine whether adding E85 to their product mix can increase profitability. The fact sheet summarizes the data featured in the full report (PDF 1.4 MB). Download Adobe Reader.

Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 26

Published by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, this comprehensive report offers statistics and information on factors influencing transportation energy use and presents them in easy-to-understand tables and graphs (PDF 3 MB). Download Adobe Reader.

BAE/Orion Hybrid Electric Buses at New York City Transit: A Generation Comparison

This National Renewable Energy Laboratory report details the first-year, in-service performance of second-generation (Gen II) hybrid electric transit buses operated by New York City Transit. Produced by Orion Bus Industries and equipped with BAE Systems' HybriDrive propulsion system, the Gen II buses were evaluated between February 2006 and January 2007 (PDF 451 KB).