Space Coast Clean Cities Aids DOT in CNG Purchases

The Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) recently completed agreements to purchase CNG from several vendors and governmental agencies throughout the Space Coast Clean Cities Coalition. The highlight was a first ever agreement between NASA and DOT. This agreement is consistent with Presidential Executive Order 13031, Federal Alternative Fueled Vehicle Leadership, December 1996. The executive order promotes partnerships between the Federal Government, Clean Cities participants, private industry, fuel suppliers, fleet operators and State and local governments. DOT has also established agreements/local charge accounts with Tampa Electric Company (TECO), formally People's Gas, in both Holly Hill and Downtown Orlando, the City of Leesburg, Orange County Fleet Management and City Gas in Rockledge.

Future plans are to expand this network throughout the Coalition with the advent of our first gate station in Titusville and, rumor has it, changes at the LYNX facility in Orlando to accommodate the refueling of vehicles. In addition, we are pursuing a CNG station on Keplar Road in Deland at the DOT maintenance yard and another station at the Oviedo DOT maintenance yard in Oviedo. The strategic placement of stations in Deland and Oviedo, close to major highways, would eliminate gaps in coverage and allow all Coalition members to obtain CNG fuel along the triangle I-4, I-95, SR 528 corridor.
(Submitted by John Wray, Florida Department of Transportation)

Clean Air a Priority in the Sunshine State
Florida Space Coast joins Federal Clean Energy Partnership Program

The Department of Energy (DOE) marked a major milestone in the Clean Cities program by designating the Florida Space Coast Clean Cities Coalition as the 75th member of the program. The designation ceremony, held on the first day of October -- the beginning of Energy Awareness Month -- recognized the coalition for its commitment to using alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) to curb air pollution from auto emissions and help promote new, cleaner alternative fuels.

The ceremony was held at the Florida Solar Energy Center in conjunction with the Federal AFV USER Program kick-off for the Melbourne-Titusville-Kennedy Space Center area. The Federal AFV USER Program is an interagency effort led by DOE and the General Services Administration to concentrate large numbers of Federal AFVs in certain regions of the country to help spur local AFV market development. Other cities in the program include Albuquerque, New Mexico; Denver, Colorado; the San Francisco Bay area in California; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.

Dan Reicher, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, represented DOE at the event. He praised the partnership forged between the two groups, saying: "The Federal AFV USER Program will help build upon the foundation being laid by the Clean Cities program to further develop the market for alternative fuels and vehicles in the Melbourne-Titusville-Kennedy Space Center area."

Reicher emphasized the nation's, and indeed the world's, growing oil demand and the need for national energy security. "Our imports of oil, both in absolute amounts and percent, are at historic highs and rising. Nearly twenty-six years after the energy crisis, we're still sending money - about a billion dollars a week - somewhere else for oil."

"By using domestically produced, clean alternative fuels, you are preparing your community for the future, so that when the next disturbance in our oil supply occurs, long lines at the gasoline pump will be as much a relic of the 1970s as the Pet Rock or 8-track tapes," said Reicher. "Your plans to increase the number of AFVs on the road clearly illustrates the commitment from the Space Coast community to creating a healthier environment by cleaning the air, and to strengthening our nation's energy security by reducing our dependence on imported oil."

Former Astronaut Loren J. Shriver, the Deputy Director for Launch and Payload Processing at NASA - Kennedy Space Center (KSC), also spoke during the morning ceremony, praising the efforts of both the Space Coast Clean Cities Coalition and the Federal AFV USER Program.

"The designation of the Space Coast and central Florida area as the 75th Clean City. . . relates closely to NASA's goals of education and technology advances without negative impact to the environment," Shriver said. "Kennedy Space Center's AFV leadership within NASA supports NASA's top ten position in the number of alternative fuel vehicles in federal agency fleets. KSC's partnership investment with industry built a state-of-the-art compressed natural gas refueling facility. Its partnership with GSA to provide the vehicles overcame the chicken and egg syndrome that typically plagues public implementation of AFV applications. KSC is committed to continuing our leadership and support of these two programs being recognized today."

During the ceremony, the 40 stakeholder members of the Coalition were introduced and six alternative fuel projects were singled out for recognition. All six projects were funded by the U.S. Department of Community Affairs - Florida Energy Office, which also funds the Florida Space Coast Clean Cities Coalition.