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: Eastern Carver County School District
Our success story this week takes us to Chaska, Minnesota, and the Eastern Carver County School District, where the switch to propane has fired up big savings. Eastern Carver County has begun the slow but steady process of replacing more than 100 Diesel buses with ones that run on clean propane fuel. While the new busses cost more, the switch is already… Read More
Clean Cities Success: Austin Green Fleet Episode 3406
Our success story this week follows a transportation company with a strong environmental focus. In 2008, Austin, Texas based R & R Limousine and Bus first began using biodiesel in its fleet. Then last year they purchased 12 compressed natural gas shuttle buses originally used to ferry attendees to both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Lone… Read More
Clean Cities Success: Sustainability in Syracuse
Our Success Story this week stops in Syracuse, New York where this vibrant college town is all abuzz over electric vehicles. Already a network of 68 charging stations has been installed throughout central New York. This strategic EV infrastructure—implemented by Syracuse Synapse Sustainability Trust— makes EV commuting to nearby cities easy and convenient. A… Read More
Clean Cities Success: Richmond Refuse
Our Success Story this week comes from Richmond, Virginia-where compressed natural gas refuse trucks are a common sight. The city has acquired 25 high compaction CNG trucks along with 2 natural gas fueled Honda Civics. Federal incentives and support from Virginia Clean Cities helped off-set vehicle costs. A private 13-stall CNG fueling station was also built… Read More
Clean Cities Success: Metro Cars Michigan
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
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… Read More
Clean Cities Success: Rio Rico Fire District
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… Read More
Clean Cities Success: UC Davis
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,… Read More
Clean Cities Success: Foodliner’s CNG Trucks
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,… Read More
Clean Cities Success Stories: CNG School Buses
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… Read More