Green Motoring
MotorWeek was one of the first mainstream media outlets to provide regular coverage of advances in green motoring technologies and the use of alternative fuels. With uncertain fuel prices, MotorWeek continues to give viewers a front row seat as automakers seek to strike a balance between giving car buyers the performance they desire and the fuel economy they demand. It’s said, “They don’t build them like they used to,” and that’s never been more true than right now!
Clean Cities Success: Metro Cars Michigan 4.25.2013
Our success story this week ferries us to southeast Michigan and to the forefront of alternative fuel fleets. Beginning in 2007, Metro Cars invested $0.5 million to convert 75 vehicles to propane. Federal tax incentives made it easier for the Detroit based limo and shuttle service to switch to clean fuels. In 2010, the company partnered with the Clean Energy… Read More
Clean Cities Success: Altamont Landfill 4.11.2013
Our Success Story this week chronicles Waste Management’s Altamont Landfill in Livermore, California. In the late 1980’s it became a “waste to wheels” pioneer by using landfill methane gas to power turbines to generate electricity; enough to run 8,000 area homes and a liquefied natural gas plant. That plant now provides ‘Renewable’ natural gas for some 300 refuse… Read More
Clean Cities Success: Rio Rico Fire District 3.28.2013
Our success story this week takes us to Southern Arizona, and an innovative alternative fuel effort by the fire fighters of the Rio Rico Fire District. The problem was what to do with leftover grease that migrates from a nearby river into the waste water treatment plant. The solution was a biodiesel processing unit that turns the grease into fuel for their fleet… Read More
Clean Cities Success: UC Davis 3.14.2013
Our Success Story this week takes us to Northern California’s UC Davis, a pioneer in alternative fuel vehicle research. Here, a wide variety of alt-fuel vehicles roam the campus; from compressed natural gas buses, to numerous plug-in hybrid conversions, to this Scion eBox EV—with an electric motor filling in for the original gas engine. Electrified vehicles, like… Read More
Clean Cities Success: Foodliner’s CNG Trucks 2.27.2013
Our Success Story this week focuses on Mid-west based Foodliner, one of America’s largest bulk food haulers. In 2010, Foodliner’s fleet added 6 new Compressed Natural Gas tractors for use in daily deliveries. So far they’ve driven some 400,000 miles. Refueling along their routes is made easy thanks to a public access CNG fueling station in Des Plaines, Illinois.… Read More
Clean Cities Success Stories: CNG School Buses 2.14.2013
Our Success Story takes us to Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Their school district has been a leader in alternative fuels since 1995, as the state’s first school district to start operating compressed natural gas school buses. Today nearly half of their 114 buses run on CNG, making it one of the largest such fleets on the East Coast.… Read More
Clean Cities Success: San Diego Car Sharing 1.31.2013
Our success story of the week takes us to sunny San Diego where even car sharing is taking on an electrifying new look. Car2Go chose the southern California city to launch their first all-electric U.S. car sharing fleet - bringing in a fleet of 300 Smart ForTwo electric drives for rental. Car2Go was quick to recognize that the U.S. Department of Energy was helping… Read More
Clean Cities: Seattle Baking Company 1.16.2013
Our Success Story this week takes us to Seattle, Washington and the Essential Baking Company. The organic bakery began using almost pure B99 biodiesel in delivery trucks in 2005. Currently their 18 biodiesel trucks, serve 21 routes-7 days a week throughout the state. Drivers used to refuel offsite. Now, a local bio-diesel co-op provides solar powered mobile… Read More
Clean Cities: Virginia Sheriff’s Office 1.03.2013
Our Success Story this week puts the spotlight on Spotsylvania County, Virginia. In 2011, the county partnered with Virginia Clean Cities and the state and federal government to convert Ford Crown Victoria sheriff’s department cruisers to propane. Partnerships and local leadership helped Spotsylvania convert 31 cruisers, along with four school district trucks.… Read More
Clean Cities: Mammoth Cave Nat’l Park 11.29.2012
Our Success story this week comes from Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park. In 1999, the park committed to use E85 ethanol in a number of their flex-fuel vehicles, and installed their own refueling station. Today, more than a decade later, all of the park’s 41 vehicles run on alternative fuels, including biodiesel, propane, and electricity. The park has… Read More