Clean Fuels Ohio Granted $11 Million in Federal Recovery Act Funds for Clean, Alternative Fuel Vehicles & Fueling Development-

Through cash allocated via the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Clean Cities Grant Program, Vice President Joe Biden announced the DOE has granted $11.04 million in sustainable funding to Clean Fuels Ohio – a nonprofit organization devoted to supporting and endorsing clean fuels. The funds will go toward the implementation of 283 alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles and refueling infrastructure for 26 government and private sector associates across Ohio State. With matching support from local partners and industry supporters, the grant exemplifies an investment of roughly $30 million toward alternative fuel vehicle and organization projects across the state. Sam Spofforth, Clean Fuels Ohio’s Director, states, “We’d like to thank the Vice-President, Department of Energy and State of Ohio for their support and confidence in us… This is the most comprehensive and ambitious deployment of advanced transportation energy refueling infrastructure and vehicle technology ever in our state. It will help develop markets for a wide range of cleaner transportation technologies that will help Ohio’s economy, our environment and make us more energy secure.” Alternative technologies within Clean Fuels Ohio’s project developments consist of:

• Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs): 40 vehicles to be developed by City of Columbus, Energy Optimizers, Franklin County, Hamilton County, Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District.
• Compressed Natural Gas (CNG): 91 vehicles and 8 refueling stations to be developed by Ansonia City Schools, City of Columbus, City of Dublin, Friends Business Source, Industrial Fluid Management, Kramer Enterprises, Kirk Energy Group, the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, Rumpke, and Streackers Tractor Sales. Some of the natural gas will seemingly be biogas methane supplied from the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) Green Energy Center or through IGS Energy, a natural gas marketer.

• Propane: 112 vehicles and 5 refueling stations to be developed by Ace Taxi Service, City of Cincinnati, Columbus Green Cabs, Columbus Regional Airport Authority, Moyer Industries, Pike-Delta-York Local Schools, Sharp Community Resources, and Cleveland Yellow Cab. Ferrell Gas will supply fuel for part of these projects. MedCorp Green will perform some of the conversions of gasoline vehicles to propane.
• Battery And Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (BEVs/PHEVs): 38 battery electric vehicles and 2 PHEVs developed by City of Hamilton, Columbus Regional Airport Authority, Frito Lay, Staples, and Toledo Convention Center. Most of the battery electric vehicles are slated to be all-electric box trucks. AeroVironment, an Electric Vehicle charging system maker, is set to supply a portion of the charging systems.

The utilization of these clean vehicles will work to displace approximately 875,927 gallons of petroleum fuel annually, and most vehicle fleets are expected to perform a minimum of 10 years. In total, the Department of Energy carefully selected 23 clean energy projects out of 90 reviewed for grant awards up to $15 million each, with the full amount reaching nearly $300 million. The complete federal announcement can be found by visiting http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=232.