Clean Cities coordinators come together at the Work Truck Show this week in Indianapolis, IN.
Obama Details MPG Plan for Trucks
President Obama is giving federal agencies slightly more than one year to draft a rule proposal that would boost fuel economy and tighten greenhouse-gas emissions for medium- and heavy duty trucks.
Obama directed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency to release by March 2015 a follow-up set of fuel economy standards to those adopted by the White House in 2011. That law applies to model-year 2014 through 2018 trucks, and calls for a 20% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions and fuel consumption by 2018.
Ford Gives $120K to Kentucky for Battery Research
Governor Steve Beshear Friday announced Ford has awarded the state a $120,000 grant for automotive battery research.
The University Research Project grant will be used to study the preparation of materials used in making electrodes. The goal is to lower the cost, shorten the development cycle, and improve the quality and performance of future batteries. It’s the first such grant given to the state from Ford for research and development.
Senate Passes Farm Bill
After years of delays and contentious negotiations that threatened to derail the farm bill, Congress completed its work on a new five-year package Tuesday that now heads to the president. The Senate voted 68-32 on a $500 billion farm bill that will end direct payments to farmers, expand the popular crop insurance program and cut spending on food stamps for some poor Americans by 1%. The White House announced Tuesday afternoon that Obama is going to sign the farm bill on Friday during a visit to East Lansing, Mich.
I-75 Green Corridor Project
Since 2009, 30+ partners have been collaborating on the “longest biofuels corridor on the planet” by making all 1,786 miles of the U.S. interstate I-75 traversable using either of the biofuels E85 ethanol or B20 biodiesel. Through 2013, the project has added 28 E85 stations and 9 B20 stations in all 6 of the corridor states, and those stations have sold over 2.4 million gallons of biofuels! By the project’s end, we expect to be offsetting nearly 1.5 million GGEs per year of petroleum. To learn more visit the project site at www.CleanFuelsCorridor.com.Southeast Alternative Fuels Conference and Expo
The Southeast Alternative Fuels Conference and Expo will provide the opportunity for education and networking among fleet managers, industry experts and other decision makers. Presentations and breakout sessions will focus on alternative fuels and fleet efficiency options covering technical details, policies and programs as well as successful fleet implementation stories.
The conference will take place October 22-24 at the Raleigh, NC Convention Center.
First Westport, Now Cummins: Uncertainty for One Natural Gas Engine
Cummins INC. one of the world’s largest engine designers and manufacturers, says it is halting – at least for now – its development of a new spark-ignited natural gas engine.
The company announced its plans to develop this platform, the ISX15 G, back in March, 2012, saying it was aiming to strengthen its position in the natural-gas-for-transportation segment. At the time, Cummins anticipated that its new 15-liter engine would be in limited production sometime this year – a goal that is now on indefinite hold.
Clean Energy LNG site Complete
Clean Energy completed construction on the first LNG site located in Kentucky and is ready to open to customers. Contact Brian Wennerstrom, Business Development Manager for Clean Energy at Bwennerstrom@cleanenergyfuels.com or call 423-341-1779 for more information.
Kentuckiana Cleanfuel Adding Second Location
Kentuckiana Cleanfuel LLC is planning a second location in Louisville. KCF Station 2, a subsidiary of Kentuckiana Cleanfuel, plans to construct a new fueling station that will compress natural gas for use in vehicles. The station will consist of an on-site compressor to compress the gas to a higher, vehicle ready pressure. The gas then will be stored in a series of storage vessels until the fuel is needed.
UPS Plans for 900-Plus LNG Trucks
UPS plans to have deployed between 900 and 1,000 liquefied natural gas-fueled tractors at more than a dozen locations by August, with Jacksonville, CACH (the firm’s Chicago Area Consolidated Hub) and Tennessee each getting more than 100, according to a company deployment plan. Texas will have 80 LNG trucks, mostly in Houston, by the end of this first quarter.