HEADLINES

EPA Releases Region 4 Clean School Bus RFP

Ford F-150 Propane Fuel Truck to be Available in 2008

Georgia State Senate Passes E85 Bill

Alternative Fuel Filling Station Opens to the Public in Buford

SA White Oil Company is Bullish on Biodiesel

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EPA Releases Region 4 Clean School Bus RFP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 is soliciting proposals on a competitive basis for projects that reduce emissions from diesel school buses within the Region 4 states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and/or Tennessee. As part of the Southeast Diesel Collaborative, projects will reduce emissions through a variety of strategies, including but not limited to,
emissions control technologies, vehicle and engine replacement, cleaner burning fuels, and idling reduction strategies.

All proposals must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern on August 3, 2007. If an applicant cannot submit its proposal electronically, please contact Alan Powell, 404-562-9045, for alternative submission methods—proposals submitted thru alternative methods must be received by the closing date and time specified above.

Final applications will be requested from those eligible entities whose proposal has been successfully evaluated and preliminarily recommended for award. Upon notification of award from EPA, awardees will be provided with instructions and a due date for submittal of the final application package.

Important Dates:
Proposal Due: August 3, 2007
Applicant Notification: October 1, 2007
Final Award: January 1, 2008

The Clean School Bus USA program is designed to reduce children’s exposure to diesel exhaust from school buses. There are about 450,000 school buses on the road today, of which approximately 390,000 are diesel. Older technology buses produce as much as six times the pollution as a new school bus. About one-third of these buses were manufactured before 1990. These buses are the heaviest polluters and should be replaced. The remaining two-thirds of the school buses were manufactured between 1990 and 2003. These buses can be made much cleaner by retrofitting them with devices designed to reduce pollution and switching to cleaner burning fuels. EPA’s Clean School Bus USA initiative has three primary goals: 1) reduce school bus idling; 2) retrofit existing post-1990 buses with devices and/or cleaner burning fuels that reduce pollution, and 3) replace the oldest buses (pre-1991) with new, cleaner buses. By providing assistance funding for successful approaches to reducing pollution from school buses, EPA is making available an important tool for school districts in Region 4 to implement clean school bus projects.

Click here to view a full copy of the RFP.

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Ford F-150 Propane Fuel Truck to be Available in 2008

The Ford F-150, to be equipped with a Roush Dedicated Propane direct vapor injection fueling system, is set to be delivered to select Ford dealerships sometime in 2008, according to Roger Moore of Alan Vigil Ford in Fayetteville, Georgia. The dealership is one of the few selected to serve major markets like Atlanta. And, if the 50 customers who have already expressed an interest in purchasing one or more of these vehicles are any indication, demand is going to be favorable for further production and expansion of the line.

The Roush Propane F-150 is a dedicated propane fuel vehicle and will only operate on propane fuel. For this capability, all of the gasoline components are replaced with propane specific parts. This includes adding a propane fuel tank, special fuel lines, a new fuel rail assembly, and new propane-specific fuel injectors. The vehicle computer is re-calibrated to provide the optimum performance and fuel economy available from propane.

The truck will have a maintenance schedule very similar to the gasoline engine schedule, with no special oils or change intervals. To meet the varied customer requirements for range, load carrying, and modifications, two fuel tanks will be offered. The base tank will replace the spare tire to provide an open bed, with a 200+ mile range. The optional tank will be mounted in the bed to provide a 500+ mile range.

Roush and Ford have a long and fruitful relationship, from the well-known Roush modifications of Mustangs and GTs to a NASCAR racing team. The two have created a design that provides a zero drop in horsepower or torque rating. And because of federal and state tax credit incentives, there is no manufacturing cost for the “up-fit” to be passed along to consumers. This is a win-win for the consumer and for the quality of our air.

Click here for additional information about the Ford/Rauch F-150.

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Georgia State Senate Passes E85 Bill

By a unanimous vote, the Georgia General Assembly approved a bill that would “provide for grants to persons to finance installing, replacing, and converting motor fuel storage equipment to facilitate storing and dispensing E-85 gasoline for retail sale. Governor Perdue signed the bill into effect on May 29, 2007. E-85 gasoline is a blend of ethanol and gasoline that by volume consists of not less than 70 percent nor more than 85 percent ethanol, which meets the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) D5798-99 Standard Specification for Fuel Ethanol for Automotive Spark-Ignition Engines.

State Senate leaders agreed that facilitating E-85 projects “would return a substantial benefit to the state by promoting investment of private capital to provide improved air quality in this state through reduction of combustion of gasoline in motor vehicles; aid compliance with federal air quality standards; promote the use of alternative domestic fuels that reduce dependence on foreign petroleum supplies; and enable increased availability of motor fuels crucial to the state’s economy, welfare, and public safety, which may be especially critical in times of natural disaster or international crisis.”

The Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority will develop, implement, and administer a grant program to facilitate the above purposes. GEFA is also authorized to make grants subject to a set of criteria that includes, but is not limited to:

• Each grant applicant shall submit a project plan, subject to GEFA approval.
• A grant for any approved project shall not exceed $20,000.00 or 33 1/3 percent of the planned cost of the project, whichever is less, and the applicant shall be required to pay the remainder of the project cost. The applicant is not precluded from using grants or loans from federal government or private sources to pay for the remainder of the project cost.
• Construction for any approved project shall begin not later than six months after the date of the grant.
• Any approved project shall be completed not later than one year after the date of the grant.
• Grant money for a project shall be refunded to the state with interest at the legal rate not later than two years after any failure to meet the requirements of the program.

Click here for additional information.

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Alternative Fuel Filling Station Opens to the Public in Buford
(from June 12, 2007 press release)

Cocktail Cove One Stop in Buford, Georgia, is now selling propane motor fuel to the public. Also known as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), propane is a clean-burning byproduct of domestic natural gas production. Taxed at a lower rate than gasoline or diesel, propane can be less expensive than traditional motor fuels. And with over 250,000 propane-powered vehicles on US highways, propane is one of America’s most popular alternative fuels. Joining nearly 50 public access propane fueling stations in Georgia, Cocktail Cove One Stop is unique in being the first to offer propane motor fuel alongside gasoline and diesel in a filling station/convenience store setting.

Cocktail Cove One Stop owner Rubin Schulman says that propane is just the start of his alternative fuel business. He hopes his gas, diesel, and propane pumps will soon be joined by E85, biodiesel, and compressed natural gas (CNG), making Cocktail Cove One Stop the second all-alternative fuel station in the nation. Many public propane-fueling stations are located at LP dealerships or truck rental agencies, but Cocktail Cove One Stop is a traditional filling station with a full-service convenience store. Many Flying-J convenient stores also offer propane-refueling stations.

For more information, contact:

Click here to find other alternative fuel stations.

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SA White Oil Company is Bullish on Biodiesel

Specializing in motor fuel and lubricant needs since 1926, the family-owned, Marietta-based, SA White Oil Company is a key link in Georgia’s biodiesel distribution chain. The company has been purchasing a B100 blend from US Biofuels, of Rome, Georgia, for the past three years and anticipates a growing demand, particularly among fleet customers like Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Greystone Power, Peachtree City, the City of Marietta, and others like ATow, the towing contractor for the City of Atlanta. All of these organizations are now using biodiesel to fuel their fleets and are smartly using federal fleet assistance credits to do so.

However, individual use is a little less predictable. According to SA White’s Robert Thornton, “because of occasional blend issues or feedstock shortages, the price of biodiesel can be higher than regular diesel. People switch back and forth between the two depending on the price.”

Thornton also believes that with federal incentives for building alternative fuel stations, and new Georgia legislation (see above story) also facilitating the development of the necessary fueling infrastructure across the state, Georgia and the Southeast are well positioned for growth in biofuels distribution and use.

For additional information, contact: