Mammoth Cave National Park is sporting new “flowering flame” alternative fuel vehicle parking signage at the visitor center parking lot!
GM Recalling 3,196 Impco CNG Vans
General Motors has initialed a safety recall of 3,196 model year 2011-2014 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana Vans converted to dedicated compressed natural gas operation by Impco Automotive.
“Some of these vehicles may have a CNG high pressure regulator that leaks natural gas,” GM told dealers last month. “This could cause an explosion or a fire if an ignition source is present.
“To correct this condition, dealers are to replace the regulator.”
GM and Impco began looking into the matter in March after learning from a fleet customer that a leaking regulator had been replaced on a CNG van in January.
A Greener Bluegrass with Compressed Natural Gas
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government’s waste fleet currently serves over 96,000 homes and over 3,000 businesses daily, and has added 11 new CNG garbage trucks to its municipal fleet, with two additional units coming in December of 2014.
View more in KCFC resources
University of Louisville Brings Kentucky to the Forefront of Workplace Charging Challenge
The University of Louisville (UofL) has become the first U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Workplace Charging Challenge (WCC) partner in the state of Kentucky. The Workplace Charging Challenge program aims to achieve a tenfold increase in the number of U.S. employers offering workplace charging in the next five years.
Employers involved in the Workplace Charging Challenge range in size, industry, and geography but strive for a common goal to advance the nation’s economic, environmental, and energy security by supporting electric vehicle technology and cutting petroleum use in transportation. Leading Kentucky’s WCC involvement, the University of Louisville, a Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition member, has joined a strong network of employers across the country who help determine best practices of workplace charging and are locally and nationally recognized for their efforts.
The University of Louisville’s Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department in the J.B. Speed School of Engineering has purchased 6 GE charging stations of which 4 are installed in the UofL Floyd Street Parking Garage. This important resource not only allows faculty, staff and students access to charging stations for their electric vehicles, but also provides a test bed for research related to the communication between the car, charging station and electric grid.
“What we look forward to doing here at the university is to show the Department of Energy how we are effectively and efficiently utilizing the charging stations, by eliminating any peak demand electric charges from the charging stations,” said John Naber, Associate Chair of the ECE in the University of Louisville’s Speed School if Engineering
ECE doctoral student Nick Jewell has been using an algorithm he has developed to predict the peak demand time of electricity usage on the UofL campus and remotely turn off the charging stations during this critical, cost sensitive time period.
“U of L is not placing a few EV’s and recording mileage, it is providing the hands on data to change the automotive industry,” said Melissa Howell, Executive Director, Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition (KCFC).
National Parks Utilize Propane
Check out this video from the Propane Education & Research Council featuring Mammoth Cave National Park and its use of propane.
Clean Energy Adds LNG Site in Walton, KY
Find out more about Clean Energy’s Natural Gas Highway
Canada Joins U.S. in NatGas Transportation Push
Building on a joint U.S.-Canada government cooperation plan issued at the end of last month, the Canadian Gas Association (CGA) and the Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance (CNGVA) have pledged their “full support” for increased cooperation between the two nations on efforts to promote use of natural gas vehicles (NGV).
Four CNG Stations Open Across Texas
Four compressed natural gas fueling stations opened in four Texas locations including Waco, Amarillo, Harrold and Rosenberg.
Propane Powered School Buses Approved in Kentucky
For the first time in Kentucky history, school districts will be able to purchase Propane (LPG) powered school buses for student transportation.
Master purchasing agreements with the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Kentucky Department of Education have identified sixteen (16) school bus specifications ranging from 22 passenger to 72 passenger buses.
Thomas Built and Bluebird Bus each offer the LPG buses for purchase by Kentucky school districts. Pricing will be available in late September 2014.
Crittenden County Schools in Western Kentucky hosted a pilot project in 2013 for the first LPG school bus transporting students. A fuel savings just over $5,000 annually has been realized.
Mammoth Cave National Park operates seven LPG school buses for visitor transportation.
KCFC Members Awarded Funding for Natural Gas Projects
Governor Steve Beshear and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) officials today announced the award of $2,501,591 in Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds to LexTran to improve safety and air quality. Additionally more than $1.2 million in CMAQ funds were awarded to the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to improve safety and air quality in Kentucky’s second-largest city, and more than $3 million for three projects in Jefferson County to improve safety and air quality in one of the busiest areas of the Commonwealth.