Considering alternative fuels for your fleet? Learn more about propane!
We visited The Produce Box site in Raleigh, North Carolina, last year and talked to Founder Courtney Tellefsen about their fleet of propane vehicles. Check out our new video on it here!
The Produce Box, a produce delivery company in North Carolina, serves about 11,000 families across the state. The company has eight propane trucks, which they said they chose because they burn cleaner and save $20-30K in fuel a year. Propane is also a domestic fuel, as 90 percent of it comes from the US.
Considering alternative fuels for your fleet? Learn more about natural gas!
We visited a Waste Management site in North Carolina last year and talked to Project Manager Amanda Fairley about their fleet of natural gas vehicles. Check out our new video on it here!
Waste Management, a waste management, comprehensive waste, and environmental services company, has 21 million customers throughout North America, with 24,000 vehicles – 6,500 of which are compressed natural gas (CNG).
Whether produced via conventional or renewable methods, the advantages of natural gas as an alternative fuel include its domestic availability, established distribution network, relatively low cost, and emissions benefits, according to the Alternative Fuels Data Center.
Learn more about Waste Management and its fleet on the company’s website here. Learn more about natural gas and if this option could be right for your fleet at cleantransportation.org.
Join us for an Alternative Fuel Vehicle Tailgate before the Durham Bulls baseball game on Saturday, July 13 from 5:30-6:35 p.m. outside of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park stadium! Check out a lineup of alternative fuel vehicles, which may include electric, hybrid/plug-in hybrid electric, propane, natural gas, biodiesel or ethanol.
An Energica electric motorcycle charging with a ChargePoint DC Fast Charger in Wallace, NC. – Photo by Chris Maxwell
Are you interested in installing new Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) (electric vehicle charging stations) in your North Carolina community? There are three possible sources of funding to make it happen.
EVSE; an element in an infrastructure that supplies electric energy for recharging of plug-in electric vehicles including electric cars, neighborhood electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids; is deployed throughout the country in key areas for public charging as a supplement to residential charging, according to theUS Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center.
There are three types of electric vehicle chargers – Level 1, Level 2 and DC Fast Charging. Types are classified by the rate at which the batteries are charged. Level 1 provides 2-5 miles of range per 1 hour of charging, Level 2 provides 10-20 miles of range per 1 hour of charging, and DC Fast Charging provides 60-80 miles of range per 20 minutes of charging. Learn more about each type of equipment and developing infrastructure to charge plug-in electric vehicles at the US Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center website here. You can also view the current map of EV chargers in the United States and Canada here.
There are three potential sources of funds to support installation of EVSE in North Carolina:
1. The VW Settlement gives North Carolina $92 million dollars for projects to reduce vehicular air pollution. These funds will be administered by NC DEQ as a part of their beneficiary mitigation plan. Fifteen percent of these funds will be allotted for EVSE (both Level 2 and DC Fast Chargers).
The NCDEQ just released a Request For Proposals (RFP) for VW settlement funds for DC Fast chargers this week. Under the DC Fast Charge program:
• $3.4 million will be available for the installation of Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Charging Infrastructure
• Projects in designated corridors will receive priority to expand the state’s charging infrastructure network
• Projects can be submitted by eligible businesses, incorporated nonprofits, and state, local, tribal or municipal government agencies
Applications will be available on July 1, 2019, and the submission deadline is September 30, 2019. The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Level 2 Charging program RFP will be released at a later date. Read more about the NCDEQ RFPshere.
2. The NC Clean Energy Technology Center’s Clean Transportation team also has limited grant funding for EVSE. The next Clean Fuels Advanced Technology (CFAT) project RFP will be released in the fall or winter of 2019. Funding will be restricted to projects where there is no ground disturbance involved (such as in a parking deck or where wires and conduit are already in place) – and no digging, trenching, pavement cutting, repaving, etc. is allowed. Take a look at the last round of funding for insights on what the next round may look like, and join the newsletter list to know when the next RFP will be issued by going here. For more information on CFAT funding, contact John Bonitz at jhbonitz@ncsu.edu.
A Hyundai Ioniq EV charging in Hillsborough, NC. Photo By Chris Maxwell
3. Duke Energy plans to invest $76 million to help spur EV adoption across the state, according toDuke Energy. Duke Energy’s proposal to the NC Utilities Commission would help fund the adoption of electric school buses and electric public transportation, and lead to almost 2,500 new charging stations in the state – more than doubling the amount of public stations currently in North Carolina, according to Duke Energy. The initiative is to help meet Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order goals of having 80,000 electric vehicles registered in the state and to reduce the state’s carbon footprint by 40 percent below 2005 levels within the next six years. Duke Energy’s plan includes:
• Residential EV Charging: This program will provide a $1,000 rebate for qualifying Level II charging stations for up to 800 residential customers. Level II charging allows customers to charge their EVs up to six times faster than a standard wall outlet.
• Public Charging: Duke Energy will install and operate more than 800 public charging stations across North Carolina, including DC Fast Charging, Public Level II and multifamily locations, which will expand the state’s network of EV charging stations.
• Fleet EV Charging: The program will provide a $2,500 rebate for 900 qualifying charging stations for commercial and industrial customers who operate fleets that are transitioning to electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Municipalities and universities also qualify for these rebates.
• EV School Bus Charging Station: Duke Energy will provide financial support to eligible customers to procure up to 85 electric school buses. Duke Energy will install the associated charging infrastructure.
• EV Transit Bus Charging Station: Duke Energy will install and operate more than 100 electric transit bus charging stations for eligible transit agencies electing to procure electric buses. Electric transit buses eliminate diesel emissions and reduce fuel and maintenance costs for transit agencies.”
Source of electricity is taken into consideration in scoring CFAT grant proposals, with renewable-sourced energy scoring higher. The NC DEQ VW Settlement program will give up to 10 bonus points when RECs are purchased to offset grid electricity purchases. The Duke Energy program is still in early stages of proposal and development, and it is not yet clear what their criteria will be.
The winners of the second annual “Keep Our Air Clean” Student Art Contest have been officially announced! Artwork will appear on billboards around North Carolina.
Elementary School Winner
Elizabeth Leonard | Fourth Grade | Grace Classical School, Jacksonville NC
North Carolina students from kindergarten through college can submit their artwork for a chance to be featured on billboards across the state
***DEADLINE EXTENDED TO SUNDAY, MAY 5***
TheNorth Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) has officially launched the 2nd Annual “Keep Our Air Clean” Student Art Contest, where students in North Carolina from kindergarten through college can submit their artwork for a chance to be featured on billboards across the state!
Artwork should focus on actions that people can take to reduce air pollution from vehicles and help keep our air clean. Examples: walking, biking, using public transportation, using electric vehicles or biofuels, and more. Please make artwork family-friendly and non-partisan. You can learn about the alternatives at cleantransportation.orgorfuelwhatmatters.org.
Artwork in a more horizontal rectangular shape (about the shape of a billboard) is recommended. Recommended dimensions: 400h x 1400w pixels at 72 ppi in RGB mode 400h x 840w pixels at 72 ppi Save as JPG, PNG or BMP at maximum quality
The winner will be chosen based on:
Relevance and appropriateness of the message
Visual design
Public votes on our Facebook account
Art submissions will be accepted through Sunday, May 5. Please submit by emailing Heather Brutz at hmbrutz@ncsu.edu.
Artists who are over 18 or parents/legal guardians submitting on behalf of their children can submit artwork by directly emailing Heather Brutz at hmbrutz@ncsu.edu. You are agreeing to the legal terms below. Teachers submitting artwork on behalf of their students must return a signed permission form.
For more information or any questions, email Heather Brutz at hmbrutz@ncsu.edu.
Legal Terms
By submitting this photograph, image, graphic, or video (collectively the “work”) you hereby agree to the following:
• You certify and warrant that you are the legal guardian of the minor who is submitting the artwork or are the artist and are legally an adult.
• You certify and warrant that the work is your work or your child’s own original creative work and does not violate or infringe the copyright or other proprietary or intellectual property rights of others.
• You retain all copyright and equivalent rights but grant permission for NC State to use, reproduce, distribute, and/or release the work to the public in any manner and in any medium without payment of any fee, and in perpetuity.
• North Carolina State University reserves the right to use contestants’ names and works for educational publicity and/or promotional purposes, including website or exhibition of winning entries. You understand that the works will be shared with reporters covering these awards and for promotion of the competition itself. You hereby give North Carolina State University nonexclusive rights to use yours or your child’s name, likenesses, quotes and submissions for educational publicity and/or promotional purposes. This includes but is not limited to website display, print materials and exhibits.
• You hereby agree to indemnify NC State, its trustees, officers, agents, and employees, from any and all claims, demands, and liabilities (including attorneys’ fees) incurred as a result of a final judgment or settlement or any claim or legal proceeding arising out of or resulting from a breach or claimed breach of the foregoing representations and warranties.
Last week, the City of Greensboro unveiled its first electric buses during a grand opening in Greensboro, NC. Greensboro is officially the first City in North Carolina to use electric buses in its transit system.
The City will have 10 buses in operation in the coming weeks, and plans to have another three to six more buses by the end of the year, bringing the total to 16, or 30 percent of the entire fleet, according to Spectrum News.
According to Rhino Times, this means Greensboro will have the second largest bus fleet on the East Coast behind Philadelphia.
N.C. Department of Transportation Chairman Mike Fox, Proterra CEO Ryan Popple, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan, and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper were in attendance at the Greensboro unveiling last week.
“This is smarter, this is the way of the future and this is a way for us to make sure we create better paying jobs in North Carolina and become healthier and cleaner while we’re doing it,” Governor Roy Cooper said.
The rechargeable electric Proterra buses are more efficient and more environmentally friendly.
They are 40-foot and powered by batteries that can provide up to 200 miles of transportation before needing a recharge, according to Spectrum News.
The buses are also expected to cost less in both operational and maintenance expenses than a traditional bus, according to WFMY News. It’s estimated that Greensboro will save more than $350,000 per bus per year.
The City said it will take the cost savings from the electric buses and expand service, eventually replacing the entire fleet, according to Spectrum News.
Learn more about the City of Greensboro and the Greensboro Transit Authority on their website here.
Electric vehicle charging stations are once again eligible technology projects for 2020 Clean Fuel Advanced Technology (CFAT) funding. Specific electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) projects are eligible in all 100 North Carolina counties. Successful EVSE projects will involve no digging, ground-breaking, or pavement cutting.
Electric vehicle sales in the US surpassed 1 million in October of 2018, and the number is rising. As electric vehicles become more mainstream, expansion of charging stations reassures drivers of the ability of electrification to meet their needs.
“We are excited about this opportunity because demand for plug-in electric vehicles is rising, and the need for additional charging infrastructure is growing,” said Rick Sapienza, Clean Transportation Program Director at NC Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC).
The CFAT grants program is supported with federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) funds provided by the NC Department of Transportation (NC DOT). The primary purpose of the CFAT project is to reduce transportation-related air pollution emissions. In 2020, up to $1,400,000 in federal funding is being awarded.
Although EVSE has been eligible under CFAT in prior years, recent interpretations of federal regulations made EVSE and other infrastructure projects infeasible. Clarification of those rules helped find this narrow set of projects, which can be funded with less paperwork. For the current round, only EVSE projects that do not have ground disruption or cutting of concrete are eligible. Those projects could include replacement of stranded / non-working chargers, installation of new chargers where the preparation work has been previously completed with proper local permitting and environmental compliance, and installation of new chargers at facilities where no ground disturbance or cutting of concrete is required (such as inside a parking deck).
In 2019, the CFAT program helped fund 11 electric vehicle charging station projects, delivering 53 new Level 2 EV charging plugs (28 of which are replacements of defunct equipment), 16 solar-powered EV charging plugs and 4 new DC Fast Charge plugs (at two stations). Read more about these projects (and others) here.
As in prior rounds, other clean transportation technologies are also eligible. In 2018, NCCETC funded conversion of gasoline engines to also run on Liquid Propane Gas (LPG), retrofits of gas vehicles with hybrid electric kits, electric power take-off (ePTO) units to slash idling emissions from utility bucket lift trucks, electric transport refrigeration units (TRUs), and leases of electric cars and other alternative-fueled vehicles.
The deadline to apply for the second round of funding is March 13, 2020.
Learn more about CFAT and view the guidelines, FAQ and application here. All EVSE updates and guidelines are highlighted in yellow. View previous projects funded by CFAT here and here.
Clean Fuel Advanced Technology (CFAT) Project Round 2 Proposals Open
The North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) at North Carolina State University announces the following request for proposals (RFP) through the 2019 Clean Fuel Advanced Technology (CFAT) project. The CFAT project is supported with federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) funds provided by the NC Department of Transportation (NC DOT). The primary purpose of the CFAT project is to reduce transportation-related emissions in 24 eligible North Carolina counties.
The second round of CFAT 2019 funding Request for Proposals (RFP) period has opened. In 2019, up to $2,350,000 in federal funding is being awarded. The 2019 funds will be awarded in three consecutive rounds of reviews and allocations, until all funds are allocated. The deadline to apply for the second round of funding is March 29, 2019.
Projects located in the following counties are eligible for CFAT funding: Cabarrus, Catawba, *Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Granville, Guilford, *Haywood, *Iredell, Johnston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Nash, Orange, Person, Rowan, *Swain, Union, Wake, (*Represents partial counties).
*Available funds: $2,350,000 Maximum per project award: $400,000 Minimum per project award: $10,000 Application deadline: March 29, 2019 Project period: June 14, 2019 – January 30, 2022
