Clean Cities

Clean Cities is a government-industry partnership in the United States that provides regional coalitions with information and incentives from the United States Department of Energy (USDOE), a large collection of technical data and resources, and coordinated strategies and resources they can leverage to obtain maximum petroleum reduction. The Clean Cities partnership consists of 87 coalitions that work with 5,700 local stakeholder programs that have helped avoid the usage of over 2 billion US gallons (7,600,000 m³) of petroleum, put more than 500,000 AFVs on the road, and played a role in the construction of over 3,000 alternative refueling stations since 1993.

U.S. DOE Clean Cities coalitions in late 2010

Indiana

The state of Indiana contains two designated Clean Cities coalitions: South Shore Clean Cities and Central Indiana Clean Cities. South Shore Clean Cities serves all of Northern Indiana which includes the following 18 counties: Benton, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fulton, Jasper, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Newton, Noble, Porter, Pulaski, St. Joseph, Starke, Steuben and Whitley.

Chartered on June 15, 1999, South Shore Clean Cities is a government/industry partnership designed to help reduce petroleum consumption in the transportation sector. Located in an area that has suffered the devastating environmental impact of the industrial practices of the late 19th through the mid 20th centuries, South Shore Clean Cities is dedicated to preserving and revitalizing Northern Indiana by promoting the use of clean fuels and clean vehicles technology.

September 6, 2011 - Environmentalist touts Yellowstone's eco success story

September 20, 2011- South Shore Clean Cities award electric vehicles to northern Indiana cities.

October 16, 2011 - All charged up, but nowhere to plug

December 16, 2011 - Tube City IMS Brings Lean and Green Locomotive to Northwest Indiana

Maryland

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority. Better known as simply "Metro," the authority provides transit services to the metropolitan area in and around Washington, D.C. The authority has a fleet of 1,500 buses, including 74 hybrid electric buses and Metro plans to have nearly 500 more hybrid-electric buses by 2012. Vice Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, who last year committed to convert the entire Maryland Transit Administration bus fleet to hybrid-electric buses by 2014. Maryland has already accelerated its purchase of hybrid-electric buses with the help of Recovery Act funds (Clean Cities).^[1]

Tennessee

The State of Tennessee contains 2 designated Clean Cities coalitions: the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition (http://www.ETCleanFuels.org/), and Middle Tennessee Clean Fuels (http://middletncleanfuels.org/). Both were designated in 2004. A third coalition—-West Tennessee Clean Fuels—-is forming (http://www.cfwt.tn.org). Many fleets in Tennessee use alternative fuels like the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Eastman Chemical Company, UPS, Waste Management, cities like Sevierville, Kingsport, Memphis and Crossville, and the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation (a significant biodiesel user in the state). As of 2012, Tennessee has about 30 public stations where E85 is available, and the same where B5, B20 or higher blends like B99 are available. Tennessee's first public CNG station opened in Wartburg, Tennessee in late 2010, and another 5 stations have opened Memphis, Nashville, Huntsville, Athens and Sevierville. As of October 2014, 4 more are expected to be completed in 2015.

The East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition holds quarterly coalition meetings in Knoxville on the first Thursday of February, May, August and November. See the Website for meeting information. http://www.ETCleanFuels.org/

Wisconsin

The State of Wisconsin has one Clean City coalition designated in 1994 called Wisconsin Clean Cities (http://www.wicleancities.org/). Serving the entire state of Wisconsin, WCC has provided education and outreach regarding alternative fuels, vehicles, infrastructure, fuel efficiency improvements and idle reduction. WCC has been instrumental in securing federal and state funding to implement many projects across the state of Wisconsin. Since 2010 WCC has participated in hundreds of events and public engagements statewide. In 2013, WCC reported a reduction of nearly 12 million in gasoline gallon equivalents due to the increase of alternative fuels and technologies. WCC also reported a greenhouse gas emission reduction at 57.9 tons in 2012, a 99% increase from the previous year.

Empire Clean Cities

Empire Clean Cities is the Clean Cities coalition for New York City & the Lower Hudson Valley (Westchester, Rockland, & Putnam Counties). ECC was incorporated in 2007 and was formally known as New York City & Lower Hudson Valley Clean Cities. ECC has been tasked with providing support and management skills necessary to advance the regions economic, environmental, and energy security by building local public-private partnerships towards promoting the use of technologies and practices that reduce petroleum consumption. In 2012 ECC introduced Empire Green Fleets a metric used to evaluate the overall impact of public and private fleets operating in the region. ECC also launched a Green Food Trucks initiative in 2012. With the popularity of food trucks in NYC growing ECC conducted an investigation on the feasibility of promoting the use of biodiesel in these trucks. http://www.empirecleancities.org/

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

On 2009 Earth Day, Vice President Joe Biden announced the availability of $300 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for state and local governments and transit authorities to expand the nation's fleet of clean, sustainable vehicles and the fueling infrastructure necessary to support them. The Clean Cities Alternative Fuel and Advanced Technology Vehicles Pilot Program will support at least 30 projects involving alternative fuels or advanced vehicles. Technologies eligible to be funded include a number of different light- and heavy-duty vehicles, including hybrid, plug-in hybrid electric, hydraulic hybrid, electric, fuel cell, and compressed natural gas vehicles. In addition, projects can support refueling infrastructure for alternative fuels, including biofuels and natural gas. Other efforts eligible for funds include public awareness campaigns and training programs on alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles and infrastructure. The program requires a 50% cost share from participants.^[1]

The Southeast Propane Autogas Development Program is the largest Clean Cities alternative fuel vehicle conversion deployment program in history. The Program is administered by Virginia Clean Cities at James Madison University and the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. The Program is converting fleet vehicles from gasoline to autogas in the Southeastern United States. The project received an $8.6 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Criticism

While Clean Cities includes a scattering of funding for electrification and charging stations, most of it is for carbon-based liquid fuels or non-pluggable hybrids.^[2] Clean Cities federal funding in 2010-2011 was set up with a majority of the funding favoring plug-in EVs and HEVs. However, the amount of funding and focus of that funding ebbs and flows between the alternative fuels over time due to advances in technology and interest in those fuels. CNG and propane were more popular in the early 2000s, the biofuels ethanol and biodiesel took center stage in the mid 2000s, and electric vehicles have taken the limelight most recently (2010–2011).

References

1 2 DOE Offers $300 Million in Recovery Act Funds for Clean Cities Program. Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy News, April 29, 2009
↑ The Ultimate Posting on Plug-In Hybrid Developments: Clip & Save. CalCars, September 22, 2009

External links

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