Green Fleets Magazine recently announced their first-ever Sustainability All-Star award recipients, and UC San Diego fleet manager Jim Ruby was among those reconized. An active member of the San Diego Regional Clean Fuels Coalition board, Jim strives to operate the university’s 800+ vehicle fleet in the most environmental friendly way possible, and has been a great resource for other fleets in the region looking to do the same. Congratulations Jim!

Ruby brings 30 years of industry experience to direct the operation and maintenance of over 800 campus vehicles.  Under his guidance, UCSD has procured more than 50 hybrid-electric cars and has converted more than 40% of the campus fleet to Zero Emissions Vehicles. He led the conversion of the University’s diesel fleet to use ultra-low sulfur B-20 biodiesel. He developed and implemented the plans for UCSD’s Alternative Fuels Station.

During his tenure as fleet manager, UCSD obtained the UC/CSU Best Practices award for its Electric Vehicle program and has been recognized by California EPA as a “Model Pollution Prevention Vehicle Service and Repair Facility.” UCSD has received the San Diego Excellence in Energy Efficiency award for “Sustainable Transportation Program.”

Ruby serves on San Diego Regional Clean Cities Coalition’s board and served on San Diego Area Government’s (SANDAG) Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Study Team. His campus recognition includes UCSD’s “Earth Week Sustainability Award for Outstanding Staff Contribution” and the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability for contributions to UCSD’s sustainability goals. Fleet Services’ facilities have been awarded LEED EB Silver, and the University participates in the EPA’s National Partnership for Environmental Priorities program.

UCSD’s Jim Ruby Named Sustianability All-Star by Green Fleets Magazine is a post from: San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition

The California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) has partnered with ROUSH CleanTech, an industry leader in propane autogas technology, and Ferrellgas, a nationwide propane supplier, as a part of an 18-month mobile exhibit program highlighting residential energy efficiency and home improvements. The CCSE Residential Energy Roadshow, which kicked off August 26-28 at the San Diego Home, Hot Tub & Landscape Show, is designed to educate and inspire Southern Californians to learn about and implement energy-saving practices in home efficiency, solar technologies and alternative-fuel transportation.

“Thanks to generous donations from ROUSH CleanTech and Ferrellgas, hundreds of thousands of Californians will be able to learn about home energy efficiency, solar energy and the products and incentives available to them when visiting the mobile exhibit,” said Irene Stillings, CCSE executive director. “This is a perfect example of how multiple clean technologies can work together to demonstrate energy savings, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote more sustainable practices.”

Using a Ford F-250 pickup truck with the ROUSH CleanTech liquid propane autogas fuel system, CCSE will transport the exhibit to community events throughout San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The truck will have access to Ferrellgas propane autogas stations for refueling at more than 200 locations in California alone.

The CCSE Residential Energy Roadshow is funded in part by the Department of Energy in support of the goals of its BetterBuildings Neighborhood Program and two California programs, Energy Upgrade California™ and Go Solar California! Various manufacturers and service providers have donated generously to the exhibit as well.

“Ferrellgas is proud to partner with the California Center for Sustainable Energy and ROUSH CleanTech to educate Californians about ways to save money and the environment by implementing energy efficiency solutions in their homes and at their businesses,” said George Koloroutis, president of Ferrell North America and senior vice president of Ferrellgas. “As the nation’s leading propane retailer, we’ve been doing just that for more than 70 years.”

Vehicles powered by propane autogas emit up to 24 percent fewer greenhouse gasses and 20 percent less nitrogen oxide, with significantly fewer particulates. All of this can help improve the air Californians breath and lower the emissions footprint of commercial fleets across the state. Historically, propane autogas costs 30 to 40 percent less than gasoline and requires less vehicle maintenance due to its clean-burning properties, making it an economical alternative as well.

“This is a great partnership that will showcase to Californians that propane autogas is the most readily deployable and flexible alternative fuel,” said Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing for ROUSH CleanTech. “Propane autogas can immediately address air quality concerns for residents.”

The BetterBuildings Neighborhood Program supports forty competitively selected communities nationwide that are using innovation and investment in energy efficiency to expand the building improvement industry, test program delivery business models and create jobs with an emphasis on home energy improvement.

Energy Upgrade California is a California program designed to guide homeowners in making energy-efficient upgrades to reduce energy use, conserve natural resources and create more comfortable and efficient homes. Go Solar California! is the marketing campaign for the California Solar Initiative, an incentive program designed to encourage Californians to install 3,000 megawatts of solar energy systems on homes and businesses by the end of 2016 and 585 million therms of gas-displacing solar hot water systems by the end of 2017.  Energy Upgrade California and Go Solar California! are joint efforts of the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission.

As the only organization in California concurrently administering aspects of all three energy programs and a variety of clean transportation initiatives, CCSE developed this mobile showcase to provide a one-stop information resource for homeowners to help them understand their options and make their energy decisions easier. The exhibit addresses a wide range of sustainability practices to save energy and money, such as capturing rainwater, insulating homes and using new lighting technologies.

More information, including a schedule of events, is available at http://www.energycenter.org/roadshow.

On the Road for a Clean Energy Future is a post from: San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition

Thanks to Jim Ruby for these photos. Jim is UCSD Fleet Manager and San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition board member.

Photos From Clean Car Show at UCSD 50th Anniversary Celebration is a post from: San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition

Jim Ruby and his staff at UCSD did an outstanding job at this event, which was held on Saturday April 16th.  The array of vehicles was tremendous and a number of our organization members were present as well. Here are a couple of pictures of the event. In the “booth in view” picture – that is our booth next to the IMPCO truck and right next to us is CCSE. We’ll try to get more info and photos up soon.

UCSD Held Clean Car Show as Part of Its 50th Anniversary Celebration is a post from: San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition

Jason Greenblatt of SDG&E Clean Transportation Program sent us this notice:

Clean Transportation News From SDG&E

As a company with fleet operations, I wanted to provide an update on opportunitiesthat will help you if you’re considering using alternative fuel vehicles.

Energy Showcase

Please save the date for SDG&E’s 6th Annual Energy Showcase. During this yearly event, SDG&E invites local businesses to learn more about how to save energy and money through our programs and services, as well as new technologies. This year’s event will have a clean transportation section featuring alternative fuel/technology vehicles, from medium- and heavy- to light-duty sizes.

• WHEN:    Thursday, April 28, 2011, 7:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• 7:30 a.m. Exhibitor’s Pavilion with Transportation Section opens
• 8:30 a.m. Seminars Begin
• 11:30 a.m. Awards Luncheon
• WHERE: San Diego Convention Center

Reserve your spot and register online today! There is no charge for this event.

If you are unable to visit the transportation section at the Showcase, or if you would like to learn more about alternative fuel vehicles, we will also be holding a Commercial Vehicle Demonstration the next day, April 29, from 9am to 1pm. Please contact our Clean Transportation program specialist, Jason Greenblatt for more details.

APCD Funding Opportunity

The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District recently announced availability of funds for projects that achieve early or extra emission reductions.  The funding is currently available for owners of heavy-duty diesel trucks used in freight movement to upgrade to cleaner technologies. Applications are due April 29, 2011. For more information, including how to apply, click here.

SDG&E’s Clean Transportation Program promotes electricity and natural gas as low carbon fuels and environmentally sound energy solutions for vehicles. For more information about the program,visit www.sdge.com/cleantransportation or contact me today.

Alternative Fuel Vehicles to San Diego April 28th and 29th, 2011 is a post from: San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition

Below are some alternative fuel related articles found this week.

Tax Credit, Court Ruling Put Biodiesel Industry on Solid Ground for 2011

On Tuesday, a federal appeals court unanimously rejected an attempt by the oil refining industry to block the EPA’s renewable fuel standard (RFS2), which mandates blending of biodiesel into US diesel supplies. On Friday, the compromise tax and unemployment benefit bill, which included a renewal of the biodiesel producer tax credit, was signed into law by president Obama. After months of hardship brought on by policy uncertainties, the biodiesel industry can adopt on optimistic outlook on 2011. Read more about this article by Josh Garrett on HeatingOil.com.

Powering truck fleets with fried chicken

New Leaf Biofuel, based in Barrio Logan, collects used cooking oil from nearly 1,000 local restaurants and converts it to biodiesel. It sells that to distributors who market the fuel to customers running fleets of diesel trucks, including the Allied Waste fleet of trash and recycling trucks in Chula Vista and C&D Towing in Barrio Logan. Allied Waste has been using biodiesel since 1993. This article features comments and discussions by New Leaf Biofuel CEO Jennifer Case, who recently joined the Board of Directors of the San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition. Read more about this article by Peggy Peattie on signonsandiego.com.

Gasoline Demand Defies “Experts” and Drops

Defying all the “experts,” gasoline demand in the U.S. has dropped 8% since 2006 when demand peaked. Prevailing wisdom has held since the OPEC oil shocks of the mid-1970s that that supplies would not keep pace with demand, eventually leading to the end of the oil supply. Quoted by Independent presidential candidate Rep. John B. Anderson (I-Ill.) Sept. 23, 1980, while debating former President Ronald Reagan, the American Petroleum Institute predicted that world oil demand would exceed available supply by 1990. Today’s U.S. Energy Dept. report indicates that, with the new breed of fuel-efficient and alternative-fuel vehicles, gasoline demand should drop by another 20% by 2030, leaving the world awash in gasoline. Despite increased consumption by the rest of the industrialized and developing worlds, gasoline demand should continue to drop in those countries too. Read more about this article by John M. Curtis on examiner.com.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Biodiesel Blend in US Diesel Supplies, Gasoline Demand Drop, and Powering Truck Fleets with Fried Chicken is a post from: San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition

On November 30, 2010, the San Diego Regional Clean Fuels Coalition hosted a Clean Start event at the CCSE. Over 35 fleet managers and alternative fuel enthusiasts attended the workshop to learn about propane fueling options, fleet conversions and the fueling infrastructure currently being developed in the region.

Here are some highlights from the speaker, Jon Van Bogart, from CleanFuelUSA:

• Propane is an national focus for alternative fuels because its carbon footprint is smaller than petroleum and diesel, it exists everywhere, is easily transportable, and large propane storage facilities already exist around the U.S.

• Propane received a lot of Federal Stimulus money.

• There are ~200 propane fueling stations nationwide. Thirteen are currently in CA. Ten million vehicles run on propane in the U.S.

• Ten new stations will be coming to San Diego (the majority will be public access although some school districts may be eligible for a private site.) Expo Propane will be installing the stations locally.

• There will be free training for CNG and Propane at service centers (to be determined) for one year. These service centers will include free classes to educate and certify technicians.

• Nationwide station locator http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/propane_locations.html

• Propane qualifies for all federal and state rebates that are based on weight/class.

• Federal funding through the IRS AFV tax credit can be found on the IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/corporations/article/0,,id=202341,00.html.

• CA State incentives are available through CARB and CEC.  The CEC AB-118 Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program has vehicle buydown incentives for all the fuels and technologies including propane.  Propane has $2M in the 2009-2010 FY, and $3M in the 2010-2011 FY investment plans. The Executive Summary for the 2010-2011 Investment plan showing funding allocations:  http://www.energy.ca.gov/2009-ALT-1/documents/2010-09-13_Executive_Summary_CMF.pdf.

• Propane is now less expensive than diesel on a cost per mile basis ($.16 for propane vs. $.22 for diesel fuel)

• Propane is projected to grow from 8% of all U.S. motor fuel consumption to 20% in the next 10-15 years.

Propane Fueling Infrastructure Underway in San Diego is a post from: San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition

The 25,000 EVs will constitute most of GE’s fleet.

NEWS |  TRANSPORTATION

MICHAEL KANELLOS: NOVEMBER 11, 2010

The electric car industry has clamored for a case study to showcase they economics of electric cars. General Electric is giving them one.

The conglomerate said it would purchase 25,000 electric cars for its fleet. GE’s global car fleet right now is 30,000 cars so electrics will come to predominate. GE will buy 12,000 next year, including many Chevy Volts (General Motors only plans to make around 10,000 Volts through 2011, but could expand to 15,000). By 2015, half of the fleet cars will be electric.

This will likely make General Electric one of the largest owners of electric cars in the world. Wal-Mart, UPS, and other delivery companies are converting to electric and hybrid deliver trucks, but the size of GE’s fleet will be tough to match.

Fleet owners will be one of the important drivers for EVs. Nearly half of the cars sold are actually fleet cars, said Brandon Mason, Global Powertrain Lead Analyst, U.S. Auto Practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers at The Networked EV this week. It is also easier for fleet owners to incorporate technologies like high-powered charging stations or even battery swapping into the mix. Fleet cars ply circumscribed routes for the most part–employees aren’t taking them skiing on the weekend. As a result, charging stations and infrastructure can be localized.

Better Place, the battery swapping and charging guys, will launch in Israel with fleet customers. Proterra, the electric bus company, sells its buses with high speed chargers.

Electric cars, of course, would help GE’s bottom line. The company sells the WattStation charging station, but also transformers, smart grid equipment, sodium sulfur batteries and all those other components that will be required to beef up the grid for electric drive. Kevin Dasso at PG&E estimates that it will cost $150 million to $175 million to upgrade the grid for uncontrolled (i.e. peak hour) charging. Even with off-peak charging, upgrades will be needed.

General Electric to Purchase Massive Flotilla of Electric Cars is a post from: San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition

Check out this article from Automotive News on a major purchase of PEVs:

GE to buy 25,000 electric vehicles from GM, rivals by 2015 (from Automotive News  –  11/11/10)

November 11, 2010 – 9:49 am ET

DETROIT (Bloomberg) — General Electric Co. will buy 25,000 electric vehicles, almost half of them from General Motors Co., by 2015 in the biggest such order ever.

Electric autos will make up at least half of GE’s 30,000-car fleet, as well as leased vehicles from its GE Capital unit, the company said in a statement today. GM’s portion of the order is for 12,000 vehicles including the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

GE’s order is a boost for the Volt as GM prepares for an initial public offering after its 2009 restructuring in bankruptcy.

“Wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles will also drive clean-energy innovation, strengthen energy security and deliver economic value,” GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt said in the statement. GE’s equipment generates one-third of the world’s electricity.

“Electric vehicles are a real-world technology that can reduce both emissions and our dependence on oil,” GM CEO Dan Akerson said in the statement. The company plans to deliver Volts by the end of this year, he said. The sedan has an electric motor to drive the wheels and a gasoline engine to recharge the batteries once they’re spent.

Immelt is positioning GE to benefit from more energy-efficient technologies by producing batteries, car-charging stations and smart-grid systems. GE said it’s in a “strong position” to help 65,000 leasing customers convert to electric vehicles and sees the electric-car market adding as much as $500 million in sales in the next three years.

In the U.S., the Obama administration has committed more than $11 billion in taxpayer aid to help car and battery makers start producing electric vehicles.

Battery power

Other automakers preparing to sell vehicles powered solely by batteries in the next 18 months include Nissan Motor Co., which starts delivering Leaf hatchbacks late this year; Ford Motor Co., readying electric versions of its Transit Connect delivery van and Focus compact car; and Toyota Motor Corp., which will sell a rechargeable RAV4 SUV.

By buying so many vehicles, GE is helping drive down their price, which will spur production and increase demand for battery plants and other parts makers, Fred Smith, chairman of the Electrification Coalition, a Washington-based organization of transportation and energy executives, said in the statement. Smith is CEO of FedEx Corp.

The move will “make electric vehicles more visible and acceptable to the public at large,” Smith said. “This is good for GE, good for our economy and good for our nation.”

GE will open two customer centers to evaluate vehicle-charging, driver experience and maintenance requirements and to display an array of models and manufacturers. One will be near Detroit in Van Buren Township, Mich., as part of a new technology center GE announced last year, and the other in Eden Prairie, Minn., where GE Capital Fleet Services is based, according to the statement.

GE is investing $10 billion in the next five years in clean energy across its business lines. Its products include lithium ion batteries for cars and trucks via a venture with A123 Systems Inc. and sodium-based batteries for use in large vehicles such as locomotives.

GE Energy Infrastructure is the company’s biggest industrial unit, accounting for $37 billion of the parent company’s $157 billion in revenue last year. GE is also the world’s largest maker of locomotives, jet engines, medical-imaging equipment and related information technology systems.”

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101111/OEM/101119974/1429#ixzz14zh0z2TQ

GE to purchase 25,000 PEVs is a post from: San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition

The Clean Cities’ Guide to Alternative Fuel and Advanced Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles is now available from the Department of Energy. It is a 40-page, color document that describes vehicle technologies and truck construction for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and includes 14 pages of alternative fuel and advanced technology trucks.

Download and view the The Clean Cities’ Guide to Alternative Fuel and Advanced Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles in PDF format, 5.5 MB.

Also you can visit the Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) Publication & Product Library to view and download other documents.

Clean Cities’ Guide to Alternative Fuel and Advanced Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles is a post from: San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition