Top Ten Alternative Fueled City Fleets
1. New Orleans (100%)
2. Las Vegas (90%)
3. Omaha (74%)
4. Fort Worth (70%)
5. Portland (60%)
6. Colorado Springs (58%)
7. Kansas City (50%)
8. Dallas (49%)
9. Albuquerque (47%)
10. San Francisco (47%)
Source: SustainLane 2008 US City Rankings
SustainLane surveyed the largest 50 US cities in 2007-08 as to the percentage of their city vehicle fleets using alternative fuels including biodiesel, hydrogen, ethanol and compressed natural gas, as well as electric and gas-hybrid vehicles.
New Orleans leads the nation with its entire fleet using alternative fuels. The city as of 2008 owned all flex fuel capable vehicles.
Las Vegas also sets a good example with 90% of its fleet using renewable and alternative fuels, up from 63 percent in 2007. The city fleet includes 368 vehicles using cleaner-burning B20 biodiesel (26%), in addition to using less-polluting compressed natural gas (CNG), electric hybrids and zero-polluting hydrogen vehicles.
Other cities ranking high in alternative fuel use included Omaha, Fort Worth, and Portland.
Our definition of a “Green City Fleet” for 2008 included motorized vehicles (using ethanol, biodiesel blend, cng, fuel cell, hybrid, propane, electric, etc.) and non-motorized vehicles such as bicycles and horses. We will raise the bar each year to reflect biomass-based fuel advancements and whether green fuels are later deemed to be environmentally sound or unsound.
National Green Driving Mandated; Potential Pitfalls and Solutions
As part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (pdf), former President Bush signed into law growing requirements for the use of renewable transportation fuels. The EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard is now up to 10.21% for 2009. This means that when you fill up at a gas station this year or next, your fuel will most likely contain a minimum of 10.21% corn-based ethanol (E10) or biomass-based biodiesel (B10). The clear winners of this plan are corn and soybean farmers in the Midwest.
With the standard increasing up to 27% by year 2020 or 36 billion gallons, this means that increasing amounts of farmland may start to be farmed solely to feed our cars, instead of our bodies. This type of alternative fuel use is clearly unsustainable long-term due to topsoil depletion and continued fossil fuel inputs into our industrial agricultural system. On the plus side, biofuels are a bridge solution for fossil fuel depletion in getting us to more sustainable forms of energy use, and are part of the Earth’s annual carbon cycle or “solar harvest.”
The “best” alternative transportation fuels in our view are fuels created from “waste” (landfill gas, used cooking oil) and the liquid fuels we never use -- conservation, efficiency, electrification, better land use.
SustainLane supports reduced transportation energy use and greenhouse gas emissions through better urban environments. If Los Angeleans or Oklahomans could buy groceries, go to the bank, see a movie and relax in a park all within walking distance of their homes -- or by bicycle or train -- we wouldn’t need to drive everywhere to accomplish such basic tasks. This doesn’t mean duplicating New York City subway systems in every major metro area, but it does mean increasing “mixed use” of our city spaces in addition to adding more mobility options.
Besides improving air quality over conventional fuel, alternative fuel development has been a hot item in “green” economic development. The University of California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed in 2007 a joint $500 million research center funded by British Petroleum in conjunction with the State of California . Energy Secretary Steve Chu helped form this new fuel science lab during his directorship at Lawrence Berkeley Labs, which is now known as the Energy Biosciences Institute.
Portland mandated that by July 2007, 10 percent of fuel sold in the city would come from ethanol, which is made from corn, and that official city vehicles run on a minimum of 20 percent biodiesel fuel. By 2010, all diesel sold within city limits must contain at least 10% biodiesel. As of last year, Portland's Water Bureau diesel vehicles used B50 in winter months and B99 in summer months.
San Francisco’s beloved MUNI public bus fleet has run on B20 since 2007, of which a portion is recycled from local restaurant grease. Mayor Newsom in February signed an Executive Order to reduce the city's fleet size in order to save money, space and the environment.
Related Stories:
San Francisco's first 15 hybrid taxis, all Ford Escapes, have made it to about the 300,000-mile mark -- nearing the city's official taxi retirement age -- and are being taken off the road. Their longevity shows that hybrid technology is more durable than previously imagined; they also have saved drivers about $9,000 a year, depending on gas prices and number of shifts driven.
Tucked in the stimulus bill is $300 million for towns and public agencies, as well as private companies, to cover the cost difference between a hybrid and its traditional model. [Massachusetts] State energy officials say they expect to receive between $5 million and $15 million of it to distribute locally.
Stockton's city fleet and cars given to city employees as a perk are being scrutinized during its current fiscal crisis, according to the Stockton Record. Fire Chief Ron Hittle drives a taxpayer-purchased 2008 Toyota Camry hybrid; Police Chief Blair Ulring, a 2005 Buick LeSabre; Fire Marshall Matt Duaime, a '99 Mercury Grand Marquis. Chiefs are by no means the only ones given take-home cars.
- Dade City Police's Electric Cars Get Attention - Gov't Fleet
- Is the Tesla Model S Really For the Rest of Us? - Gas2.0
- San Francisco Mayor Shows Off City Hall's First Plug-in Hybrids - SustainLane
- San Francisco Mayor Signs Executive Order to Cut Vehicle Fleet (PDF!) - SustainLane Gov't
- Ethanol Could be a Weak Link in California's Energy Network - Spot.US
- City of Peoria to Cut Expenses by Downsizing Fleet - Gov't Fleet
- The Copenhagen Approach to "Traffic" Could Transform Your City! - Planetizen
- Finally, Bicycle Lane Projects Hit Miami - Miami Herald
- 2007 Top 10 Alternative Fueled City Fleets - SustainLane
Related Sites:
- Gas 2.0 blog
- Government Fleet magazine
- The Oil Drum - Exploring our energy future
- Energy Bulletin: Transport
Photo Credits:
New Orleans police photo, 9/08: Erik Lesser/EPA
New Orleans biodiesel bus: Patrick MacFetters
Honda FCX hydrogen fuel cell car: Las Vegas Clean Cities Coalition
Ethanol/corn photos: USEPA
Portland biodiesel pump: Julian Chadwick
SF MUNI hybrid biodiesel bus: Mat Honan
