National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition - FYI Newsletter, Volume 7, Issue 8, April 16, 2002
- by 2nd Lt. Mike Andrews of the Space Observer, March 15, 2002
Peterson Air Force Base is leading the Air Force and the State of Colorado in reducing consumption of petroleum and significantly reducing emissions. The base is implementing three alternative fuel options and purchasing or leasing GSA alternative fuel vehicles.
Peterson is also one of the 39 original stakeholders in the Colorado Clean Cities program, a U.S. Department of Energy program designed to promote cleaner air through the use of alternative fuel and vehicles.
“Air Force Space Command and the 21st Space Wing, in conjunction with the Colorado Clean Cities campaign, is leading the way on the use of alternative fuel vehicles, which is the way of the future,” said Col. Kai Norwood, Air Force Space Command Logistics Group commander.
On April 21, 2000, President Clinton signed Executive Order 13149, which requires federal vehicle fleets to reduce petroleum consumption by 20 percent by the end of Fiscal Year 2005
“Peterson is the first Air Force base, as well as the first location in Colorado, to have E-85, and ethanol-based alcohol mixed with traditional gasoline,” said Master Sgt. Jim Huber, 21st Space Wing fuels. “E-85 is 85 percent ethanol blended with 15 percent gasoline. There are currently 24 vehicles using the E-85 fuel on Peterson today.”
E-85 reduces greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon-monoxide, the main contributor to global warming, by as much as 39 to 46 percent. In addition to green house gas emission reductions, E85 reduces petroleum use by 85 percent and burns cleaner than traditional gasoline. This reduces other harmful exhaust emissions and respiratory illnesses caused by poor air quality.
According to staff at Peterson, the change from using traditional gasoline to E-85 was relatively simple. Existing gasoline tanks were emptied, cleaned, and then refilled with E-85 fuel. The tanks had to be modified to accept E-85 by removing the aluminum parts, adding an ethanol compatible hose, and a one-micron filter.
A source of cleaner fuel is ethanol. One source of ethanol is corn. One bushel of corn can produce 2.5 gallons of ethanol. The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition states that “ethanol, which is non-toxic, water soluble and biodegradable, is simply a better fuel for the world around us.”
“In addition to being the first base using E-85, Peterson AFB is also known for being the second Air Force base and the first Colorado location to have bio-diesel fuel, a blend of diesel fuels and vegetable oils,” said Master Sgt. Mark Trolio, HQ AFSPC Fuel Operations. The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition supports biodiesel use as an excellent form of alternative transportation fuel.
There are several reasons why alternative fuel technology is so important. According to Huber, “It enhances the United States` energy self-sufficiency and security by decreasing our dependency on foreign oil and petroleum. The United States imports about 60 percent of our oil every year.”
“These are a few of the reasons why the executive order is so important and the integrated item managers for all DOD Petroleum products (Defense Energy Support Center) worked extended hours to acquire the vendor contracts to make all this happen,” said Trolio.
For more information on alternative fuels, call Huber at (719) 556-7728.
Finally, it might be noted that the E85 being supplied to Peterson Air Force Base is being provided by PMC Marketing, a member of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition.
NEVC welcomes the new Columbus Clean Cities Coalition! Sam Spofforth, Executive Vice President and Clean Cities Coordinator, Tom Gross, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Technology, and Mayor Michael B. Coleman were among the many that spoke at the Columbus Clean Cities Designation on April 12 at the Ohio state capitol. Lunch and a vehicle ‘ride and drive’ were enjoyed by many who attended. Sponsors included Honda of America, General Motors, Graham Ford and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Spofforth is very excited about his new endeavor and agrees that along with other alternative fuels, E85 is a great way to clean up the city.
“My mission is like others in my position,” says Spofforth. “Promoting domestic fuels and alternative fuel vehicles.”
Although Spofforth is fuel neutral he remarks, “I will work to open more E85 stations in the Columbus area for both public and private access. I also feel that ethanol plants in Ohio need to shorten their distribution distances in some way.”
Spofforth plans to dedicate much of his time to educate fleet managers and the general public on clean domestic fuels, “A ‘Speakers Bureau Program’ is currently working very well. The bureau travels within the community educating the public about alternative fuels. We are also spending much of our time educating children in schools.”
In 1999, a few early stakeholders such as the Ohio Department of Energy and Ohio Gas Association started what is today the Columbus Clean Cities Coalition. The energy office gave the department a grant in September 2001 for designation and in January 2002 it became non-profit.
For more information about the Columbus Clean Cities Coalition, please contact Sam Spofforth at (614) 292-5435 or at info@cocfc.org.
DHEC now is dispensing an ethanol blend at its fuel
depot at 2600 Bull Street in Columbia, South Carolina.
The depot is open to government vehicles at the local, county, state and
federal levels, said Jan Smoak, director of the DHEC Division of Support
Services. It stores up to 20,000 gallons of gasoline and 10,000
gallons of E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control spent
$105,000 to rebuild the fuel depot.
Smoak said the greater use of corn-based ethanol would reduce oil imports and
ozone layer damage. It also would help the farm economy by boosting corn
sales.
DHEC held a ceremony to officially open the fuel depot at 11 a.m. April 2,
2002.
- by Lauren Donovan of the Bismarck Tribune,
April 2, 2002
The use of ethanol to fuel the state fleet of vehicles is contributing to a
surge in the number of ethanol-laced gallons sold statewide. Since
January, state employees grab the handle on the gasoline-ethanol pump whenever
possible.
Governor John Hoeven mandated the switch to a 10 percent blend to boost the
state's ethanol industry. In February, 23 percent of all gasoline gallons sold
in North Dakota were blended with ethanol.
That's up from 15 percent in October, the same range of annual consumption for
the previous few years, said Bob Scott. He directs marketing for Alchem, an
ethanol processing plant in Grafton. Scott said Hoeven's move was good
for the industry.
By the end of the year, the state will consume about 200,000 gallons of
ethanol in its fleet cars. That's less than 1 percent of the 35 million
gallons produced between Grafton and the only other ethanol plant in the
state, ADM in Walhalla.
”But it all adds up,” Scott said. “All of sudden, there's a new user. It
has an impact. New use by consumers in western North Dakota is mainly
driving the surge in ethanol consumption. Ethanol, made from corn, is an
octane that burns more completely.”
Paul Feyereisen, manager of the state fleetstated, “The conversion to ethanol
went without a hitch. The 2,100 vehicles in the state fleet are starting and
running beautifully.”
Most gas used by state employees -- about 82 percent -- comes from
state-operated pumps where the ethanol blend is provided under contract from
suppliers.
Feyereisen said state employees do a good job of finding ethanol when they're
on the road or out of state. About half of gas fills at other than state pumps
are ethanol because employees are observant.
”It's a success story,” he said.
Generally, the state pays about three cents more a gallon for ethanol blended
gasoline. That extra amount will be transferred from other budget areas so
there's no net cost to the state Department of Transportation.
”The state is committed to using ethanol for the long term,” Feyereisen said.
“The department also plans to convert its Fargo-based diesel vehicles, mainly
road equipment, to a soybean, bio-diesel product processed in the Fargo area.”
The bio-diesel has been tested on a limited basis and the conversion will let
the department see how it works on a broader application.
“The use of fuels like ethanol and bio-diesel demonstrates the state's
commitment to agriculture,” commented Feyereisen. “We're doing our
little bit,” he said.
The NEVC traveled to Salt Lake City the week of April 8, 2002 with many projects ahead!
On Monday, April 8 at 11:00 a.m., a Grand Opening Event was held at J.P.’s Texaco at 1350 East 700 South in Clearfield, Utah in celebration of a new E85 pump. Speakers at the event included: Beverly Miller, Director of the Salt Lake Clean Cities; Paul Deppen, Fleet Manager for GSA; Steve Saltzgiver, State Division of Fleet and Surplus Services; and John Petroff, Texaco owner and West Point, Utah mayor. All commented how the E85 pump was a promising addition to the city.
Two alternative fuel workshops were held on Tuesday, April 9. The morning workshop included a small breakfast and was held on the north side of Salt Lake City at the State Library. The afternoon workshop included a box lunch and was held on the south side of Salt Lake at the National Guard Armory. Both workshops were proven helpful to all who attended.
A Customer Appreciation Day was held at Christensen Oil at 595 South 200 East in Provo, Utah on Thursday, April 11. A hot dog lunch with chips and beverages were given away along with 800 gallons of free E85 fuel! Many state employees were present to answer questions about E85 to the media. Also, flexible fuel vehicles were on display including models from DaimlerChrysler, General Motors and a United States Postal Service truck.
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J.P.’s Texaco in Clearfield, Utah unveiled their new E85 pump on April 8, 2002. |
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Sgt. Gary Fleming of the Utah National Guard pumps his first tank of E85 at J.P.’s Texaco. |
Christensen Oil in Provo, Utah provided hot dogs and refreshments for its event on April 11. |
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A United States Postal Service truck was displayed as an E85 compatible vehicle in Provo on April 11. |
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For a number of years it has been difficult, if not impossible, for state and federal government fleets to determine the amount of alternative fuel being used. In a majority of cases, state and federal motor pools use private sector fueling sites and charge the fuel on a fleet credit card. The primary fleet credit card companies servicing the states and federal fleet operators include PH&H, Wright Express, and Voyager.
For years, there has been a disconnection between the vehicle operator and the reports generated by the credit card companies. For example, a driver of a state vehicle goes out of his/her way to fill up an FFV with E85. The receipt the driver receives indicates that the E85 was pumped from the dispenser. However, at the end of the billing period, the credit card company would report that unleaded gasoline had actually been purchased. While a number of reasons have been given for the inability of the credit card companies to properly track the purchase of E85, the issue has become one of importance to both state and federal fleet operators. For example, Executive Order 13149 requires the federal government to reduce petroleum consumption 20% by 2005. Catch 22 is that when alternative fuels are purchased by federal employees, the reports continue to indicate petroleum products being purchased.
Recently, PH&H and Wright Express announced that they had been able to overcome the difficulties associated with properly reporting the purchase of E85 by state fleet operators using these two widely issued cards. According to reports from management at Wright Express, rather than establishing a new coding system and the related expenses associated with that process, the existing sale codes continued to include a designation for leaded regular gasoline. Seeing as how regular leaded gasoline has not been available for sale for almost fifteen years in the United States, this code has now simply been redefined as E85. No harm, no foul, no cost………
Now state fleet operators that use PH&H and Wright Express credit cards will be able to accurately track and monitor purchases of E85. We hope that Voyager, the credit card of the federal government, is quick to follow!
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recently proposed that the fuel economy credits provided to automakers that produce alternative fuel vehicles be extended from 2004 through the end of model year 2008. The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition strongly supports the extension of the so-called “Cafe Credits” and has outlined our position in a response to the NHTSA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The NEVC has been joined in supporting the fuel economy credit extension by General Motors, Ford Motor Company, DaimlerChrysler, Alliance of Auto Manufacturers, and the National Corn Growers Association.
April 24, 2002
Grand Opening of E85 pump at Acorn Petroleum at 305 South 8th Street in Colorado Springs, Colorado. For more information, contact Michelle Saab at info@e85.com.
May 6-7, 2002
Power Crops in the Americas Conference at at the Hotel Inter-Continental in Miami, Florida. For more information, visit www.ne-ethanol.org.
May 12-15, 2002
8th National Clean Cities Conference and Expo at the Myriad Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. For more information, visit http://www.ccities.doe.gov/okconference.shtml.
June 3-5, 2002
Future Car Congress at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia. For more information, visit www.futurecarcongress.org.
June 4-5, 2002
First Annual Pacific Ethanol Conference & Expo: Developing Renewable Energy Through Ethanol at the Hilton Brisbane in Brisbane, Australia. For more information, visit http://www.pacificethanol.com
June 9-11
12th Annual EPAC sponsored Ethanol Conference in Whitefish, MT. A Golf Tournament will take place June 9 and the conference will be held June 10-11.
Visit www.ethanolmt.org for more information.
June 25-28, 2002
18th Annual International Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Trade Show at the Crowne Plaza Springfield in Springfield, Illinois. For more information and to register, go to http://www.bbiethanol.com/few.
July 23-25
FedFleet 2002 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. For more information, visit http://www.fedfleet.org.
Please feel free to e-mail your story suggestions to us at info@e85fuel.com or call us anytime.
Phillip J. Lampert, Executive Director - info@e85.com
Michelle Saab, Director of Communications - info@e85.com
Randa Barker, Director of Administration - info@e85.com
