Representatives from the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition will join clean transportation leaders from across the nation this week in Washington, D.C., to educate federal policy makers about the need to expand America’s use of transportation alternative fuels, including biofuels, electricity, natural gas, and propane autogas. Altec Industries will also participate in Energy Independence Summit 2020, the nation’s premier clean transportation policy event, on February 10-12.
“Despite the recent drop in gasoline prices, gas prices remain extremely volatile and we continue to send more than $200 billion per year to OPEC and other nations for oil,” said Mark Bentley, Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition Executive Director. “We are going to Washington to help our representatives understand that Alabama and the United States must aggressively expand our use of alternatives to petroleum-based fuel if we are to stabilize gas prices, decrease our reliance on foreign oil, and maintain and create domestic jobs in the transportation energy industry.”
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are about 1.8 million alternative fuel vehicles on the road in the United States and nearly 70,000 alternative fueling stations.
In Alabama a number of clean transportation projects are underway across the state, including:
• Partnering with Clean Cities coalitions in Georgia and South Carolina on a U.S. DOE competitive grant award of $4.6 million! In Alabama, the award will fund the addition of a compressed natural gas (CNG) public fueling station at Clean Energy’s liquid natural gas station in Birmingham, add CNG fueling for Waste Management’s refuse fleet in Tarrant and add UPS electric delivery vans in Montgomery.
Those are just a sampling of the clean transportation projects underway in Alabama.
Transportation Energy Partners (TEP), the Summit organizer, reports that Summit participants will have the opportunity to interact with top Administration officials, including leaders from the Departments of Energy, Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, Summit participants will take their message about the need for ongoing federal support for alternatives to petroleum-based fuels to more than 200 Congressional offices.
“American industry has demonstrated the ability to produce high performing technology to meet the demand for cleaner fuels and vehicles,” said Alleyn Harned, President of Transportation Energy Partners. “However, insufficient and inconsistent government incentives and support hinder companies’ ability to make the long-term investments required to sustain these clean transportation solutions. We need stable and predictable federal investments to enable fleets and technology developers to make sound long-term planning and investment decisions.”
About the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition: The Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition (ACFC), is a nonprofit membership-based organization and is the state’s principal coordinating point for alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles. ACFC is a designated Clean Cities coalition by the U.S. Department of Energy. The promotion of clean, renewable, domestic energy sources helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil, improves local air quality, and increases economic development investments in our local communities. For more information, please visit www.alabamacleanfuels.org or call 205-402-2755.
About Transportation Energy Partners: Transportation Energy Partners (TEP) is national non-profit organization that brings Clean Cities coalition leaders together with the clean transportation industry to advance policies that will reduce American dependence on petroleum-based fuels. TEP works closely with and provides policy support to the nearly 90 Clean Cities coalitions and their 15,000 stakeholders in 45 states andthe District of Columbia. Since 1993, the Clean Cities coalitions have played a leading role in implementing local programs and projects to deploy alternative fuels, vehicles, and infrastructure. The Clean Cities coalitions and their stakeholders have displaced more than 9.5 billion gallons of petroleum through the use of alternative fuels and vehicles, hybrid-electric vehicles, idle reduction technologies, fuel economy, and low-level fuel blends.
