Events & News

News: Archive

More recent stories are below. Click here for older stories.

Dec. 2005

Federal Network for Sustainability (FNS) Releases its Biodiesel Webguide. FNS, the West Coast Collaborative and the Far West Regional Laboratory Consortium are pleased to announce the availability of the Biodiesel Technical Reference Guide. The guide is targeted at federal agencies on the West Coast to help them quickly learn the basics about biodiesel including legal requirements and incentives.  Although the guide is targeted at federal agencies, it will likely be useful to others as well. Using a navigational tool called the “Biodiesel Wizard,” the guide provides references and links to technical information about how to use and store biodiesel and gives case studies of federal agencies/installations who are currently using biodiesel. There are also links that identify where the federal agencies can buy biodiesel fuel. Soon, there will be an online survey for West Coast federal agencies to identify their current biodiesel usage to help identify buying trends. The guide can be found at http://www.federalsustainability.net/initiatives/biodiesel.htm.

Dec. 2005

American Trucking Association (ATA) Announces Support for B5. ATA’s alternative fuel policy has been revised to include support for B5 as part of a national diesel fuel standard. ATA, which is the largest national trade organization for the trucking industry, sees the policy as one part of the organization’s efforts to reduce fuel expenses and the country’s dependence on imported oil. ATA is working with the National Biodiesel Board to promote the use of biodiesel. The association’s press release can be found at http://www.truckline.com/NR/exeres/D3826864-F9C8-4D4B-BBEF-03142277CCB0.htm.

Dec. 2005

Regional Groups Promote Biodiesel Use. The Northwest Biodiesel Network is a Seattle-based education and advocacy group whose mission is to promote the use of biodiesel in the Northwest as an immediate and effective way to advance environmental health, economic strength, and social and political well-being in our region as well as across the nation. The group meets at the Phinney Neighborhood Center on the 4th Tuesday of every month from 7-9 pm. The group maintains an informative website at http://nwbiodiesel.org and sends out announcements of local events to a listserve, which can be joined by going to: http://lists.nwbiodiesel.org/mailman/listinfo/announce.

The Breathable Bus Coalition (BBC) is a group of concerned citizens working to promote the use of biodiesel in school buses in the greater Puget Sound region. The group formed in the fall of 2004 in response to reports showing that students riding school buses may be subjected to significant amounts of toxic diesel exhaust while riding the school bus. The BBC has worked with several school districts including Seattle, Shoreline and Mukilteo. The Seattle School District has applied for an EPA Clean School Bus grant to transition its entire fleet to B20 during the 2005-06 school year. The BBC website, http://breathablebus.org, provides guidance, information and resources to citizens and school district personnel to help them incorporate the use of biodiesel fuel.  

Dec. 2005

Ecology's Truck Electrified Parking (TEP) Program. The states of Washington, Oregon and California are working together to develop a corridor of idle-free truck stops along I-5 and other interstate corridors on the West Coast. EPA has provided money to Washington and Oregon that is being combined with state, private and non-profit money to establish TEP at truck stops in the two states. 75 TEP spaces will be established at three truck stops in Washington, and 200 TEP spaces will be established at four truck stops in Oregon. The spaces are expected to be operational by the summer of 2006. The spaces will allow truck drivers to turn off their main engines while still getting power for on-board devices. Together, if the spaces are used just 50 percent of the time over five years, they will reduce total air pollution by more than 64,000 tons, reduce diesel consumption by more than six million gallons and save truck owners over $12 million in fuel costs. A fact sheet on the program is available at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0502025.pdf.

Nov. 2005

Update on Federal and State Government Efforts to Promote Alternative Fuels. On October 20^th a joint Legislative Work Session was held in Seattle on alternative fuels. The session particularly focused on encouraging biofuels production in Washington State. Four legislative committees (House Technology, Energy and Communications; House Economic Development, Agriculture and Trade; Senate Water, Energy and Environment; and Senate Agriculture and Rural Development) came together to hear testimony from a variety of organizations involved with biofuels. The session began with introductory remarks from Governor Christine Gregoire. The panel heard about the latest on biodiesel and ethanol production, including biodiesel from oil seed crops and ethanol from cellulose, as well as the feasibility of producing Washington’s transportation fuels within the state. There was also testimony from farm interests on what it will take to bring the farmers into this cycle. Expect several pieces of legislation relating to alternative fuels to be proposed in the upcoming Legislature’s session in January.

Senator Maria Cantwell recently convened the first meeting of the Washington Biofuels Business Collaborative, which includes representatives from farmers across the state and some biodiesel producers, users and supporters. The group aims “to identify what businesses hope for in a northwest biofuels industry, and how to help the industry grow.” (Sen. Cantwell’s Oct. 3 press release) In addition, Sen. Cantwell’s staff continues to hold meetings around the state to understand how to promote this industry and ensure involvement of Washington farmers. PSCCC’s annual meeting provided updates on all these efforts from Sen. Cantwell’s State Director and State Representative Jeff Morris. As always, PSCCC will continue to monitor these efforts and include important developments in future newsletters.

Oct. 2005

West Coast Collaborative: Overview and Update. The West Coast Collaborative (Collaborative) is a partnership between leaders of federal, state and local government; the private sector; and environmental groups in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Alaska, Canada and Mexico committed to reducing diesel emissions along the West Coast. The Collaborative is part of EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign to reduce diesel emissions. The goal of the Collaborative is to leverage significant federal funds to reduce emissions from the most polluting diesel sources in the most affected communities and to significantly improve air quality and public health.

EPA recently announced 16 diesel emissions reductions project finalists along the West Coast; the projects include over $1.4 million in grants from EPA and over $5.8 million in matching funds from Collaborative partners. These grants will fund new projects in California, Oregon and Washington. More information on these projects and other funding opportunities is available at the Collaborative's website: www.westcoastcollaborative.org. Another EPA diesel emission reduction funding opportunity will likely be announced this fall; of particular interest to the Clean Cities Coalition is that EPA accepts applications for projects for biodiesel and idle reduction.

Oct. 2005

Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) Fleet Cost Calculator Tool. Clean Cities recently launched an HEV fleet cost calculator developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in conjunction with the Center for a New American Dream and the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. The tool allows fleet managers to estimate the lifetime costs and benefits of including HEVs in their fleets. The tool is provided in two parts – 1) a single vehicle tool that compares one HEV to a conventional vehicle and 2) a fleet tool that compares two fleets (one conventional; one HEV) of up to five vehicles each. Default values are included for many parameters, but any value can be modified by the user to better match his or her operating environment. the tool assesses capital and operating costs over the life of the vehicles and outputs a detailed cost comparison. In addition, the tool outputs a list of the lifetime air emissions savings of the HEV over the conventional vehicle. Outputs are provided on a per vehicle, per year and per mile basis. More information on the calculator tool and the tool itself can be found on the following website: http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/hev/cost_calc.html/.  

Oct. 2005

Washington State Government Efforts to Encourage Alternative Fuels. There has been a flurry of recent discussion of alternative fuels by Washington State government. A recent article (http://www.komotv.com/stories/39217.htm) describes Governor Gregoire’s efforts to encourage Washington farmers to grow biodiesel feedstock crops. Another article (http://www.komotv.com/stories/39297.htm) describes the recently unveiled plan of Republicans in the state Senate to provide tax breaks to farmers that grow crops to make biodiesel or ethanol and incentives for drivers to convert their vehicles. Finally, Rep. Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish) on his website (http://hdc.leg.wa.gov/members/dunshee/20050916_biodiesel_plant.asp) announced a plan to build a biodiesel crusher and refinery in Eastern Washington using crops from Washington farmers. Dunshee says he has identified the funding for this effort and that the Legislature will take action on the issue when they meet in January. PSCCC will stay on top of all these efforts and keep members abreast of these and other new developments.

Sep. 2005
"Cars replacing industry as Sound's worst foe." So read a recent headline in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The article discussed a recent Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) study of sediments throughout Puget Sound - from Bellingham to Olympia. The report "Temporal Monitoring of Puget Sound Sediments: Results of the Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program, 1989-2000" shows that concentrations of metals are decreasing in the sediments but concentrations of a family of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs are increasing. Metals are associated with emissions from industry while PAHs are associated with vehicle exhaust. The article quotes Ecology Director Jay Manning as saying, "The kind of pollution that's getting worse, it's probably because of a lot of repetitive activities by people like you and I." There are two theories for how PAHs get from vehicle exhaust to Puget Sound sediments: 1) by settling out of the air into the Sound or 2) by being carried into the Sound with stormwater runoff. Click here to read the whole article.

Sep. 2005

Biodiesel stations open in Seattle and Issaquah. Full retail biodiesel is now available in two additional Puget Sound locations. Laurelhurst Oil in Seattle provides B99 (99% biodiesel, 1% petroleum diesel) to all customers. Tom Marier of Laurelhurst Oil says “Biodiesel gives the individual the chance to take constructive action on things like global warming, alternative fuels and decreasing dependence on foreign energy.” Laurelhurst Oil also intends to sell biodiesel for furnaces this heating season. The station accepts all major credit cards and is located near the University Village Shopping Center at 4550 Union Bay Place NE, Seattle, 98105. Additional information is available from the company’s website www.laurelhurstoil.com or by calling 206.523.4500. Laurelhurst Oil’s biodiesel is locally produced by Seattle Biodiesel in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle.

Grange Supply Inc. in Issaquah also now offers B99 to its customers after converting a kerosene tank and dispenser. The station accepts credit cards although the biodiesel pump does not have an automatic card reader. As Chip Perrault says “We have added biodiesel in response to our customers’ requests, in an effort to support the agrarian community we serve and free us from dependency on foreign petroleum sources.” The station is located at 145 NE Gilman Blvd, Issaquah, 98027. Biodiesel is available Monday thru Friday from 7 am to 6 pm, Saturday from 8 am to 6 pm and Sunday from 9 am to 5 pm. For now biodiesel is available in a side area of the station. If sales are strong enough, they are considering adding more biodiesel and dispensing it from the main pump area with an automatic credit card reader. Please support the growth of alternative fuels by supporting these new stations and telling others about them.

Sep. 2005
US Congress passes Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005. Congress recently passed a national energy bill referred to as the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005. While the bill covers much more than just PSCCC’s work, the bill includes key provisions that affect the Coalition’s efforts. In brief, the key provisions related to PSCCC are that the bill:

• authorizes $200 million for an advanced vehicle program to operate under the Clean Cities program to provide grants to state and local governments to acquire alternative fuel vehicles

• authorizes $110 million per year for fiscal years 2005-9 to demonstrate advanced technologies for the production of alternative transportation biofuels

• launches programs for hydrogen fuel-cell transit and school buses to demonstrate the technology

• requires “dual-fueled” vehicles acquired under requirements of the EPAct of 1992 be operated on alternative fuels

• requires a study to review vehicle purchase requirements under EPAct to ensure the program works more effectively in the future

• includes provisions to establish a biodiesel engine testing program and require the Department of Energy to accelerate efforts to improve diesel combustion and after-treatment technologies for diesel-fueled vehicles

• requires the establishment of a program to support deployment of idle reduction technologies as well as an advanced biofuels technology program

• institutes a renewable fuel program that mandates minimum volumes of renewable fuels in the US starting with 4 billion gallons in 2006 and increasing to 7.5 billion in 2012

PSCCC intends to take advantage of all opportunities in the bill to improve the alternative fuel vehicle landscape in the Puget Sound region.