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Many participated in the AFV Day
Odyssey
You
should have been there. If you were, then you know how successful
the event was. There were over 400 people who attended the
National AFV Day Odyssey event on April 11. Representatives
from federal, state and local government agencies along
with fuel suppliers, equipment manufactures, automotive
industry, students and the general public were there learning
about alternative fuel transportation technology.
The
event was a joint educational and outreach activity between
Space Coast Clean Cities Coalition (SC3) and the National
Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC) represented
by Traviss Technical Center. Over 80 similar events were
conducted that same day by NAFTC across the country. SC3
conducted their Advancing the Choice event in conjunction
with NAFTC’s event for Florida participation. Presentations
were made on successful AFV projects around the state, in
addition to the purpose of Clean Cities and NAFTC. All of
the major automotive manufactures were represented to display
the latest AFVs, including a Honda Civic Hybrid (at this
time there are only 4 in the country) and there was even
a competition between the participants. Bill Davis with
Florida Department of Environmental Protection wan the award
for traveling the farthes to attend the event in an AFV.
He drove all the way from Tallahassee in a Toyota Prius.
The award for the non-AFV vehicle with the lowest emissions
was Andy Peplow in a 2002 Acura RSX.
Click
here for pictures
Where can I get an AFV?
There
are several places in our coalition area to purchase an
AFV. First, try your local automotive dealership as some
are certified AFV dealers and have been trained by the factory.
Just walk in and ask, if they are not one they can look
up who is. Most manufactures offer vehicles fueled by both
ethanol and gasoline as a standard feature now. If you have
a computer and access to internet, then go to www.clean-cities.org.
There you will find links to programs to help you do research
and decide which vehicle is right for you. There are also
direct links to automotive manufactures that make AFVs.
The
General Services Administration (GSA) of the federal government
is another source if you are willing to purchase a used
vehicle. They conduct Replacement Vehicle Sales were used
government vehicles are auctioned at sales conducted national
wide. For location, time and date go to their web site at
www.gsa.gov. Also, a few used car dealers have started
selling AFVs.
Are you interested
in getting a degree in AFV technology?
Brevard
Community College (BCC) and the Florida Solar Energy Center
have joined forces and received funding from the National
Science Foundation to develop an AFV degree program. A new
curriculum in being developed to provide community college
students with a technology degree and/or certificate on
Alternative Fuel Technologies for Transportation. The first
course “Introduction to Alternative Fuels Technologies”
was approved by the state and will be offered this coming
year as EST-1820.
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