Continue reading »]]> Enhance Your Knowledge of Alternatively-Fueled
Fleet Management at ACT Expo Training Sessions!
Contact Ryan Cornett at rcornett@vacleancities.org for a $50 registration discount code!

ACT Expo 2013 offers a one-stop shop for fleet managers to gain hands-on experience with a range of advanced clean vehicles. Registered attendees are invited to take part in a series of pre-conference alternative fuel and advanced clean vehicle technology training sessions on the morning of Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Enhance your awareness of the expanding alternative fuel vehicle industry by learning more about economic and environmental benefits, fueling solutions, maintenance requirements, and more. Exciting sessions include:

Early Morning Sessions
8:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Late Morning Sessions
10:15 a.m. – noon

Fleet Management Essentials:
NAFA and the Eight Disciplines
of Fleet Management

Presented by
NAFA Fleet Management Association

Fleet Manager’s Guide to Fuel Management – Understanding Fuel Options and Impacts

Presented by
NAFA Fleet Management Association

Top Ten Things a Fleet Should Know Before Committing to
One Alternative Fuel

Presented by
Propane Education & Research Council (PERC)

Alternative Fuels and Your ROI

Presented by
Propane Education & Research Council (PERC)

Renewable Natural Gas/Biomethane for Vehicle Fuel: Understanding Fleet Integration, Market Dynamics, and Infrastructure

Presented by
American Biogas Council

Hybrid Electric Vehicle Maintenance, Service, & Diagnostics for Fleets:
How to Reduce Fleet Maintenance
and Fuel Costs

Presented by
Automotive Research and Design

The Critical Role of Alternative Fuel Vehicles in Hurricane Sandy
Rescue & Recovery Operations

Presented by
the US Department of Energy

Case Studies on Alternative Fuel Projects in the National Parks: Lessons Learned and Opportunities to Partner with NPS and Clean Cities

Presented by
the US Department of Energy

US EPA’s SmartWay Program 101 – An Overview of the Past, Present, and Future of this Important Program

Presented by
the US Environmental Protection Agency

US EPA SmartWay Program – Participant Success Story Showcase

Presented by
the US Environmental Protection Agency

Preparing Your Natural Gas Vehicle Maintenance Facilities to Meet Today’s Safety Requirements and Regulations

Don’t miss out – limited seating is available for the training sessions, so reserve early to guarantee your spot! Sign up for the training session(s) of your choice when you register online today for ACT Expo. Please note, there is no additional cost to attend these pre-conference training sessions if registered for the 2013 conference. Join us in DC!

ACT Expo Rates

Fleet Manager – $325 ($395 after 6/21/13)

General Registration - $725 ($795 after 6/21/13)

Expo Hall Only –  FREE (June 26-27 only)

Contact Ryan Cornett at rcornett@vacleancities.org for a $50 registration discount code!

Continue reading »]]> Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)

Application Deadline extended to May 31, 2013

Increased funding Available

The deadline for accepting grant applications for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) has been extended to May 31, 2013. Additionally, Congress has substantially increased the funding available which will allow for a greater number of projects to be awarded funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements.  The basic program requirements are as follows:

·         Eligible applicants include rural small for-profit businesses or agricultural producers who intend to install renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements.

·         Renewable energy systems can include solar electric, solar thermal, wind, geothermal, biomass, blender pumps and anaerobic digestion systems.

·         Energy efficiency improvement systems can include lighting improvements, insulation, electric motor replacements and other energy efficiency improvement projects as outlined in an energy audit.

Grants are available on a competitive basis for up to twenty-five percent of the eligible project costs. Loan guarantees are also available for up to seventy-five percent of the eligible project costs. Combination grant and loan guarantee applications cannot exceed seventy-five percent of eligible project costs. Additional information can be found at the following website: Rural Energy for America Program

If interested in pursuing a grant or loan guarantee through the Rural Energy for America Program, please submit a complete application to the address listed below at your earliest opportunity.  The following individual can also assist in answering questions and providing application documents for this program.

Laurette Tucker
Rural Business Specialist|Energy Coordinator
U. S. Department of Agriculture
Rural Development
100 Dominion Drive
Farmville, VA  23901

Phone: 434-392-4906, Extension 125
FAX: 434-392-4577

Continue reading »]]> The University of Virginia’s Department of Parking & Transportation and Facilities Management have partnered with Kyle Smalkowski, a fourth-year student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, to install a new level-two EV charger, the first of it’s kind in the Charlottesville area, at the University’s Central Grounds Parking Garage at 400 Emmet Street in Charlottesville. The University is set to open the station, which was funded by grants from the Parents Committee and Student Council’s Green Initiatives Funding Tomorrow program, at an event on Friday, April 26th at 10 a.m. on the second level of the parking garage.

The charging station, located next to the elevators in the garage, will be available for University visitors with electric vehicles. The station will be able to charge one electric vehicle at a time and each customer is limited to four hours. The station will pull approximately 7.2 kilowatts from the garage’s grid, which will be partially offset by a solar panel array that Facilities Management installed on the roof. The solar array will feed electricity into the garage’s electric grid.

Michael Phillips, who heads up VCC’s electric vehicle initiatives, will be on hand to provide remarks at the opening. “As of this month, the commonwealth of Virginia currently has 2,006 registered electric vehicles,” Phillips said. “This is a substantial increase of around 700 percent from just one year ago.” Michael will be joining Allen Groves, UVA associate vice president and dean of students; and Smalkowski to celebrate the opening. Mr. Groves will be performing the first official plug-in as part of the festivities.

For more information about the charging station and this opening event, contact Michael Phillips at 434-760-4485 or mphillips@vacleancities.org.

Continue reading »]]>

Breaking News: ROUSH CleanTech on PBS this Weekend!

Joe Thompson, president of ROUSH CleanTech, will be on John McElroy’s ‘Autoline Detroit’ on PBS this weekend.

Joe will appear alongside Rob Stevens (Ford) and Wayne Moore (CleanFuel USA) on a panel discussing rising fuel prices, the future of alternative fuels, and what we see as the next inexpensive energy source.

Please check with your local PBS affiliate to see what day and time they air ‘Autoline Detroit’ by clicking here.

Watch It Now

If you won’t be able to watch the segment live, click here to view it online.

Continue reading »]]> BLACKSBURG, Va., April 4, 2013 – A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered a way to extract large quantities of hydrogen from any plant, a breakthrough that has the potential to bring a low-cost, environmentally friendly fuel source to the world.

“Our new process could help end our dependence on fossil fuels,” said Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering. “Hydrogen is one of the most important biofuels of the future.”

Zhang and his team have succeeded in using xylose, the most abundant simple plant sugar, to produce a large quantity of hydrogen that previously was attainable only in theory. Zhang’s method can be performed using any source of biomass.

The discovery is a featured editor’s choice in an online version of the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, International Edition.

This new environmentally friendly method of producing hydrogen utilizes renewable natural resources, releases almost no greenhouse gasses, and does not require costly or heavy metals.  Previous methods to produce hydrogen are expensive and create greenhouse gases.

The U.S. Department of Energy says that hydrogen fuel has the potential to dramatically reduce reliance of fossil fuels and automobile manufactures are aggressively trying to develop vehicles that run on hydrogen fuel cells. Unlike gas-powered engines that spew out pollutants, the only byproduct of hydrogen fuel is water. Zhang’s discovery opens the door to an inexpensive, renewable source of hydrogen.

Jonathan R. Mielenz, group leader of the bioscience and technology biosciences division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who is familiar with Zhang’s work but not affiliated with this project, said this discovery has the potential to have a major impact on alternative energy production.

“The key to this exciting development is that Zhang is using the second most prevalent sugar in plants to produce this hydrogen,” he said. “This amounts to a significant additional benefit to hydrogen production and it reduces the overall cost of producing hydrogen from biomass.”

Mielenz said Zhang’s process could find its way to the marketplace as quickly as three years if the technology is available. Zhang said when it does become commercially available, it has the possibility of making an enormous impact.

“The potential for profit and environmental benefits are why so many automobile, oil, and energy companies are working on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as the transportation of the future,” Zhang said. “Many people believe we will enter the hydrogen economy soon, with a market capacity of at least $1 trillion in the United States alone.”

Obstacles to commercial production of hydrogen gas from biomass previously included the high cost of the processes used and the relatively low quantity of the end product.

But Zhang says he thinks he has found the answers to those problems.

For seven years, Zhang’s team has been focused on finding non-traditional ways to produce high-yield hydrogen at low cost, specifically researching enzyme combinations, discovering novel enzymes, and engineering enzymes with desirable properties.

The team liberates the high-purity hydrogen under mild reaction conditions at 122 degree Fahrenheit and normal atmospheric pressure. The biocatalysts used to release the hydrogen are a group of enzymes artificially isolated from different microorganisms that thrive at extreme temperatures, some of which could grow at around the boiling point of water.

The researchers chose to use xylose, which comprises as much as 30 percent of plant cell walls. Despite its abundance, the use of xylose for releasing hydrogen has been limited. The natural or engineered microorganisms that most scientists use in their experiments cannot produce hydrogen in high yield because these microorganisms grow and reproduce instead of splitting water molecules to yield pure hydrogen.

To liberate the hydrogen, Virginia Tech scientists separated a number of enzymes from their native microorganisms to create a customized enzyme cocktail that does not occur in nature.  The enzymes, when combined with xylose and a polyphosphate, liberate the unprecedentedly high volume of hydrogen from xylose, resulting in the production of about three times as much hydrogen as other hydrogen-producing microorganisms.

The energy stored in xylose splits water molecules, yielding high-purity hydrogen that can be directly utilized by proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. Even more appealing, this reaction occurs at low temperatures, generating hydrogen energy that is greater than the chemical energy stored in xylose and the polyphosphate. This results in an energy efficiency of more than 100 percent — a net energy gain. That means that low-temperature waste heat can be used to produce high-quality chemical energy hydrogen for the first time. Other processes that convert sugar into biofuels such as ethanol and butanol always have energy efficiencies of less than 100 percent, resulting in an energy penalty.

In his previous research, Zhang used enzymes to produce hydrogen from starch, but the reaction required a food source that made the process too costly for mass production.

The commercial market for hydrogen gas is now around $100 billion for hydrogen produced from natural gas, which is expensive to manufacture and generates a large amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Industry most often uses hydrogen to manufacture ammonia for fertilizers and to refine petrochemicals, but an inexpensive, plentiful green hydrogen source can rapidly change that market.

“It really doesn’t make sense to use non-renewable natural resources to produce hydrogen,” Zhang said. “We think this discovery is a game-changer in the world of alternative energy.”

Support for the current research comes from the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. Additional resources were contributed by the Shell GameChanger Program, the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Biodesign and Bioprocessing Research Center, and the U.S. Department of Energy BioEnergy Science Center, along with the Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences, Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the Department of Energy.  The lead author of the article, Julia S. Martin Del Campo, who works in Zhang’s lab, received her Ph.D. grant from the Mexican Council of Science and Technology.

Nationally ranked among the top research institutions of its kind, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences focuses on the science and business of living systems through learning, discovery, and engagement. The college’s comprehensive curriculum gives more than 3,100 students in a dozen academic departments a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber production to economics to human health. Students learn from the world’s leading agricultural scientists, who bring the latest science and technology into the classroom.

Continue reading »]]> Virginia Clean Cities is currently hiring and seeks two qualified professionals to join the team.  These positions are funded in part by grants, but are full time positions in accordance with our partnership with James Madison University.  A comprehensive portfolio of benefits, state and personal vacation, retirement, and health care are afforded in accordance with state employment.  These positions are based from our Harrisonburg offices at James Madison University.  For more information, contact Alleyn Harned at 804 539 9425 or at aharned@vacleancities.org.

Project Coordinator – Full Time Adjunct Faculty position providing project assistance and more
https://joblink.jmu.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1364831359460
Position closes April 11

Financial and Administrative Coordinator – Full time Classified position maintaining records, billing, and budgeting and more

http://joblink.jmu.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=59799

Position closes April 17th

Continue reading »]]> The Governor has made his amendments to the transportation funding bill (HB 2313) and if approved, Virginia will soon have the nation’s only explicit hybrid vehicle tax and one of the country’s highest electric vehicle registration fees. This comes at a time when Virginians are paying record fuel prices and transitioning away from foreign oil is more important than ever.  While the Governor’s final amendments to the transportation bill are welcome and the reduction in the hybrid fee from $100 to $64 is certainly an improvement, this new annual $64 registration fee is in addition to the tax already paid by hybrid drivers on gasoline. By our review, this additional fee is approximately four times what a hybrid Civic owner would save in gas tax compared to a traditional Civic.  This targeted registration increase is seen by many as punitive tax on efficient vehicles.

This new fee on hybrid vehicles comes at a time when we should be transitioning away from foreign oil to more domestic forms of energy. Virginia can do better, and we should continue to have a comprehensive dialogue on our transportation energy use.  While other states invest in incentives for domestic clean fuels, our high fees may hold back the innovative leadership of our entrepreneurs and early adopters of clean technologies. Although forward thinking legislators and administrative officials have invested a significant amount of time in developing a comprehensive transportation funding overhaul, there is clearly significant work to do to communicate to a greater diversity of decision makers.

-Alleyn Harned, Virginia Clean Cities

Continue reading »]]> Have you been meaning to learn more about alternative fuel vehicles and whether or not they can save money for your organization? If so, we invite you to participate in informative and timely workshop on Tuesday, 9 April at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington.

The agenda is loaded with champions and practitioners from across Virginia who will share their experience from the driver’s seat. Whether your organization is just beginning to explore the options, or is already on the road toward a fleet conversion, this workshop will provide the tools you need to drive your initiative forward. You can earn Continuing Education Units for workshop participation.

This is just one of many sessions offered at the 24^th Annual Environment Virginia Symposium, 9 – 11 April.  Below are details about the workshop.  Here is a link to information about the full symposium agenda which includes tracks on waste recovery and energy efficiency, stormwater management, nutrient reduction, energy development, social media, environmental education, and ecology, www.vmi.edu/environmentva.

Alternative Fuel Vehicles—Track 1

Save money and build local economy

Tuesday, 9 April

9:00 a.m.                              Registration and Coffee
Host: Steven P. LeBlanc, Chief of Customer Service and Logistics, Physical Plant, Virginia Military Institute

Session A (9:30 am – 11:30 am)

• Introduction to Alternative Fuel Vehicles—Cathie France, Deputy Director, Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy
• SNAPSHOTS: Who’s doing what in VA?
  • Natural Gas
    • The Honorable George Hrichak, Fleet Manager, City of Chesapeake and Board of Supervisors, York County.
    • Hank Brown, Director of Fleet Maintenance, TFC Recycling;
    • Mike Kearns, Energy Services Manager, City of Richmond
  • Biodiesel— Allen Mitchell, Chief, Equipment, Arlington County
  • Propane
    • Jerry Farmer, Operations Superintendent, City of Newport News
    • Tripp Greene,  Virginia Autogas
  • Electric – Andrew Flavin, Alternative Energy Research Analyst, Dominion Resources

• Public-Private Sector Leadership to Reduce Fuel Costs— Michael L. Bisogno, Director, Office of Fleet Management Services, VDGS
• Alternative Fuels – Paper Session

Moderator: Major Tim Moore, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, VMI

• (S)A Novel Harvesting Strategy for Algae-based fuels—Caleb Talbott, Student, and Premal Patel, Student, James Madison University
• (S)Reducing the cost of Biodiesel Production in Virginia—Jonathan Hawkins, Student and Jason McNamara, Student, James Madison University
• (S)Converting Waste Cooking Oil to Biodiesel – Parker Helble, Student, James Madison University
• (S)Novel Vehicle Exhaust Emission Reduction Technology—Joseph Crosbie, Student, James Madison University 

B  and C (2:45 – 5:30)

Interest – Feasibility – Deployment
Moderator: John Warren, President of the Board of Directors, Virginia Clean Cities

• Review Opportunities and Information (Sabrene Bader, Director of Grants Administration, Virginia Clean Cities, and Mr. Bisogno)
• Get Buy In from All Parties  (Ms. France  and Mr. Hrichak)
• Run the Numbers to Build your Case (Mr. Kearns and  Mr. Farmer )
• Knowing Vendors (Mr. Brown and Mr. Warren)
• Deployment and Evaluation (Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Kearns)
• Breakout groups for in-depth discussion
  • Compressed Natural Gas – Propane – Biofuels – Electric
• Closing Group Discussion and Readouts from Breakout Groups

Continue reading »]]>

Mayor Dwight C. Jones performs the ribbon cutting of the new CNG Station in downtown Richmond alongside Michael Phillips, Virginia Clean Cities; Peter Grace, Clean Energy; Greg Natvig, Quarles Fleet Fueling.

New Clean Energy Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Fueling Station Opens to Serve Richmond Area Vehicle Fleets

Located at Quarles Fuel Network’s Maury St. Facility, New CNG Station Will Support Clean-Running CNG Refuse Trucks, Buses & Municipal Vehicles

RICHMOND – Natural Gas – CNG – has reached a major milestone in the River City. The city’s new compressed natural gas fueling station has opened on Maury Street in Richmond, Virginia in partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia, Clean Energy, Quarles Petroleum, and the City of Richmond. This station, located at 211 Maury Street just off I-95, provides rapid fueling service to public and fleet CNG-powered natural gas vehicles, and is accessible 24/7 to anyone with a credit card or fleet card.

CNG is one of the cleanest-burning transportation fuels available. In light-to medium-duty vehicles, CNG emits up to 30% less greenhouse gas than gasoline or diesel-powered models.

This new infrastructure — a public ‘natural gas fuel station’ — is a first, big step in the Governor’s plan to transition state-owned vehicles to alternative fuels.

“In addition to reducing our dependence on foreign oil, turning to natural gas vehicles means we will save money and reduce emissions, as well as expand the market for one of Virginia’s important domestic energy resources,” said Governor Robert F. McDonnell.

Governor McDonnell added “Our contract with Clean Energy for conversions, fuel and public fueling stations will allow us to develop partnerships like this across the Commonwealth, and support our citizens who decide to drive natural gas vehicles. Virginia is leading the nation with this initiative and we are pleased that Richmond is willing to lead the way with us.”

“Compressed natural gas is just one investment we’ve made to create more economically competitive and environmentally resilient fleets,” said Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones. “Investing in CNG vehicles, like our 25 new refuse trucks, is an important part of our RVAgreen Sustainability Plan, because using the fuel in our fleets enables us to operate more efficiently, reduce costs, and produce less harmful emissions.”

Peter Grace, Senior Vice President, Clean Energy, said, “We welcome the opportunity to partner with Quarles at this station, and at other selected Quarles fueling locations. We congratulate Quarles on the decision to provide this added service to its customers and commend the City of Richmond for their support. With the expanding availability of natural gas vehicles, fleet operators across the nation are transitioning to natural gas power. Among their goals are reducing costs, adding fuel diversity to their fleets, curtailing harmful emissions, and helping reduce America’s dependence on imported oil.”

“This alternative fuel is domestically produced, much cheaper than conventional fuels and abundant,” said Greg Natvig of Quarles Petroleum Inc. “Quarles is proud to be part of this partnership. We also want to join Clean Energy in thanking the Commonwealth of Virginia and the City of Richmond for making this project possible. Their commitment of an initial fleet of vehicles provided the needed start-up volume to make the project feasible. Without their support we would not have reached this important milestone.”

Besides environmental and energy security benefits, this low-carbon fuel costs up to $1.50 less per gallon equivalent when compared to conventional gasoline or diesel fuel.

About Quarles Petroleum
Founded in 1940, Quarles Petroleum is a family business with 120 fleet fueling sites located throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. With headquarters in Fredericksburg, Virginia and six other local offices, Quarles is a leader in the regional fuel distribution business. In addition to fleet fuel, Quarles provides residential and commercial customers with propane, diesel fuel, heating oil and lubricants. For more information visit www.quarlesinc.com.

About the Virginia Clean Cities Coalition
Virginia Clean Cities is a regional nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing our energy, economic, and environmental security through petroleum reduction and clean transportation. Virginia Clean Cities is a state and federally recognized coalition of stakeholders staffed in partnership with James Madison University. Virginia Clean Cities operates dozens of domestic fuel and environmental education and deployment projects for federal, state, agencies and private partners. To learn more please visit www.vacleancities.org.

About Clean Energy
Clean Energy (Nasdaq: CLNE) is the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America and a global leader in the expanding natural gas vehicle fueling market. We have operations in compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicle fueling and construction and operation of natural gas fueling stations. Wholly-owned subsidiaries include IMW Industries, Ltd., which supplies CNG equipment for vehicle fueling and industrial applications worldwide; NorthStar, which supplies LNG and liquefied to-compressed natural gas fueling system technologies and equipment, station construction and operations; BAF Technologies, which provides natural gas vehicle systems and conversions for taxis, vans, pick-up trucks and shuttle buses; and Clean Energy Renewable Fuels (CERF), which develops renewable natural gas (RNG), or biomethane, production facilities in the U.S. For more information, visit www.cleanenergyfuels.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this news release and, unless otherwise required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Additionally, reports and other documents the company files with the SEC (available at www.sec.gov) contain risk factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this news release.