Local efforts to explore alternative-fuel vehicles will receive another source of expertise and assistance through a pilot project funded by a grant from the Colorado Energy Office.
The $225,000 grant will fund pilot projects in nine counties, including La Plata and Montezuma counties, intended to focus on boosting the use of alternative-fuel vehicles in private- and public-sector fleets.
The pilot project, called Refuel Colorado Fleets, provides funding for four energy coaches to help fleet owners work with auto dealers, fuel providers, business leaders and local governments to assess and pursue the use of alternative fuels.
Durango’s Four Corners Office of Resource Efficiency, or 4CORE, received money to hire one energy coach to work in La Plata and Montezuma counties.
“We’re really trying to facilitate the exchange of information,” said Gregg Dubit, 4CORE’s executive director. “We’re available to help fleet managers assess their fleets, but more importantly we’re trying to bring in guest speakers to facilitate the dialogue.”
A lot of elements need to come into play for a community to be ready to support alternative-fuel vehicles, Dubit said. Fueling stations are a necessary part of the discussion, whether it be to support electric cars or those that run on compressed natural gas, and dealers would need to be trained to maintain new alternative-fuel vehicles, he said.
4CORE already has been working with area fleet managers to explore alternative-fuel vehicles with help from the Refuel Colorado grant and money from BP. Earlier this month, the organization hosted a show and tell for area fleet managers that featured a propane-powered pickup used by Mesa Verde National Park and two electric cars – a privately owned Tesla and a Nissan Leaf from Economy Nissan.
The yearlong Refuel Colorado Fleets program is meant to build momentum, and continuing support is available through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities program, which supports local actions to reduce petroleum use in transportation, said Mike Ogburn, energy engineer for Clean Energy Economy for the Region, a Carbondale nonprofit that is leading the project.
The program’s overall goal is to reduce petroleum consumption and, in the process, reduce dependence on foreign oil, reduce emissions and find opportunities for cost savings, Ogburn said.
The ideal alternative fuel will vary depending on the area, but in rural areas where driving distances are usually longer, compressed natural gas tends to be a better solution, Ogburn said. One of the goals of the pilot project is to get enough fleets on board that they would support the construction of a fueling station, according to Ogburn and Dubit.
A fast-fill compressed natural-gas filling station costs upwards of $1 million and needs 100 to 150 vehicles in the area to support it, Ogburn said.
The idea of using energy coaches already has been successful in helping building owners carry out energy-efficiency upgrades, Ogburn said.
“It’s a novel idea that has proven itself very effective in the building market,” he said. “Now we’re trying to apply those techniques to the vehicle market.”
ecowan@durangoherald.com
