Lynn Billman of NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) brought with her to Wednesday’s City Work Session “two members of my team in two different areas of expertise” to make presentations.
NREL’s Gerry Harrow covered matters of alternative fuels and vehicles in Greensburg’s future, first noting he came to the meting with 20 years of experience as an engineer in the area of transportation.
Harrow narrated a slide presentation summarizing the details of a larger, printed report he’d laid before council, the first laying out the key “success factors” of infrastructure, vehicles and alternative fuels.
Infrastructure was explained as the basics of who will dispense the alternative fuels and where those dispensing points will be located. Two possible locations mentioned were Volz Oil and Kwik Shop.
The population and availability of alternative fuel vehicles was also mentioned, Harrow pointing out a total of around 4,000 vehicles could be found within a 30-mile radius of Greensburg before the May 4 storm. He said that figure included around a hundred vehicles that could use E85 gasoline blend, as well as 300 diesels and 3,600 regular gasoline-burning vehicles.
Harrow referred to an overall commitment from the community toward use of alternative fuel vehicles being key, and most typically found coming from anchor fleets, or organizations/businesses in the community willing to use exclusively alternative fuel vehicles to make up their fleet of vehicles used. In Greensburg such fleets would likely be those of the City, County’s Road and Bridge Department, County Sheriff’s Department, School District, BTI, Kiowa County Memorial Hospital and Iroquois Center for Human Development.
As for the actual alternative fuels, Harrow referred to biodiesel (both B5 and B20), ethanol (both E85 and E10 blends), compressed natural gas, propane, electricity, and hybrids. Currently being used on an annual basis within 30 miles of Greensburg are 1.6 millions gallons of Gasoline and 415,000 gallons of diesel.
Though the City has a pair of natural gas-powered cars donated recently by Scholfield Honda of Wichita, Harrow noted such vehicles are typically few in number, as are those that run on propane, although a propane fueling station already exists at Southern Plains Co-op. The electrical vehicles to which he referred are of the smaller variety that typically run up to 30 M.P.H. and are “ideal” for “running around in town.”
Harrow gathered the data for his conclusions by interviewing such entities as those listed above as potentially operating anchor fleets, and fuel providers Kwik Shop, Southern Plains Co-op and Kansas Gas. Among refineries interviewed were Abengoa, Torsten Energy, Gateway Ethanol and Noble Americas. Vehicle providers included Dwane Shank Motors, Scholfield, Lanterman Motors (Ford, Pratt), and GEM Motorcars. Though contacted, Harrow said he’s yet to receive a response from ZENN Motor Company and Miles.
Overall observations from his data-gathering interviews included his opinion that while fleets are interested in alternative fuels and advanced vehicle options, the public is likewise interested but not as informed. He also concluded that existing fuel providers are “open to adding alternative fuels” but only if commitment to using them is evident. Harrow also listed fuel pricing and availability as a “challenging” aspect.
Besides ensuring availability of alternative fuels at competitive prices other challenges included predicting future vehicle population, covering the cost of replacing current or lost vehicles with alternative-fuel vehicles and developing infrastructure required for alternative fuels and advanced vehicles with limited vehicle population.
Harrow, however, ticked off several possible opportunities for economic development that could make tackling such difficulties worthwhile. Among them were:
- providing sales and services for electric vehicles;
- building an infrastructure for biodiesel;
- building an infrastructure for E85;
- providing maintenance and other support for compressed natural gas (CNG) and propane-fueled vehicles;
- providing sales, services and support for hybrid electric vehicles;
- providing sales, installation and other services for idle-reduction technologies.
As for how to get started in developing alternative transportation for Greensburg, Harrow presented an extensive, step-by-step recommendation, which follows:
- Establish a green transportation subcommittee that could include Greensburg GreenTown, Chamber, City and County, that would make and implement recommendations;
- Get commitments from anchor fleets to use alternative fuels, whereby major fleet operators in town would work with fuel providers;
- Implement a purchasing policy for the City and County that would require agencies to purchase alternative fuel and advanced-technology vehicles;
- Hold educational events to provide a forum for fleets and the public;
- Explore the availability of CNG and propane vehicles and options for refueling multiple vehicles at the donated CNG refueling station;
- Complete the business case for adding a neighborhood electric vehicle dealership in town;
- Purchase neighborhood electric vehicles for use in the city (for use by such as building inspectors and meter readers);
- Study E85 and biodiesel pricing structures from current suppliers. Determine local pricing strategies and their potential impact on the success of alternative fuels;
- Continue to pursue alternative fuel supply options and contracts with local biofuel producers;
- Solicit grants or donations to cover the initial cost of upgrading the existing fueling infrastructure.
In regard to the last recommendation, Harrow mentioned the estimated $70,000 price tag for retooling a conventional gas pump to handle E85 or B20. He said that if “all available federal and Kansas state alternative fuel infrastructure tax credits” were applied, the out-of-pocket costs and funding would drop the cost to $21,000.
“There’s no silver bullet for getting this done quickly and cheaply,” Harrow said. “But with the required level of commitment, it can be done in a timely and affordable manner.”
