Looking into alternative fuels for Fed vehicles

WASHINGTON -- The next time you pump $60 of gas into your car, think about Uncle Sam's gas bill last year: $911,651,812.With one of the largest fleets of vehicles, the federal government -- like businesses and individuals -- is facing pressure from rising fuel prices and environmental concerns.In 2007, the federal government reported having 642,233 vehicles that drove a total of 5 billion miles.That tally includes vehicles operated by U.S. Postal Service and other federal agencies, but not "tactical" ones used by the armed forces.The General Services Administration, which writes the policies for federal motor vehicle fleets and issues directives for fleet management, will be issuing a bulletin to federal agencies soon about fuel efficiencies and rising gas prices. The agency will also encourage alternative solutions such as telecommuting, said Janet Dobbs, director of GSA's center for policy evaluation.Two-thirds of government vehicles run on gasoline, and 34 vehicles run on liquid natural gas. The rest use E-85, an ethanol and gasoline mix; diesel or biodiesel; compressed natural gas; propane and electricity. All except gasoline and diesel are considered alternative fuels under the Energy Policy Act, which requires most agency fleets to have a certain percentage of alternative fuel vehicles. It also requires fleets to use alternative fuels in dual-fuel vehicles the majority of times when possible.An executive order signed by President George Bush in 2007 requires federal vehicles to reduce petroleum use by 2 percent and increase alternative fuel use by 10 percent each year."From a broad level, a greened federal fleet is an excellent opportunity for the government to show it can not only talk the talk but it can walk the walk as well. Unfortunately, the government's history with greening fleets has been somewhat checkered," said Jim Kliesch, senior engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit organization working for a healthier environment.Oftentimes, fleet managers are still using gasoline in flex-fuel vehicles, which can run on ethanol or gasoline, Kliesch said.The government spent 82 percent of its fuel budget on gasoline in 2007 and just 4 percent on alternative fuels -- E-85, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, propane, electricity and liquid natural gas.GSA's Dobbs disagrees with Kleisch. "The federal agencies really are doing a remarkable job of trying to meet the environmental initiatives set forth," Dobbs said.One problem the government faces is finding stations that provide alternative fuels. About 186,000 gasoline stations exist across the U.S., while only about 1,500 alternative fueling stations exist, Dobbs said.Because the federal government fleet is so large, it has the opportunity to be a leader in using alternative fuel, Kliesch said."There are a number of opportunities staring them in the face right now, and they should take that opportunity to see this in right direction," Kliesch said. That includes gas-electric hybrid cars, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which run on hydrogen and produce no emissions, and installing a natural gas tank where a number of vehicles could be fueled.In 2004, the U.S. Government Accountability Office did a study of vehicle fleets in the Departments of Agriculture, Army, Homeland Security, Navy, and Veterans Affairs, some of the largest fleets in the government.The report found that most of the agencies rarely evaluated their fleets and most did not have criteria for evaluating them or know how large they needed to be. GAO found some underutilized vehicles and said agencies could save millions of dollars by eliminating them. A follow-up study is underway.Since then, GSA has issued bulletins to fleet managers with guidance to ensure that fleets are the right size and replaced at the optimum time, and GSA now requires agencies to submit fleet budget information. It also determines the best type of vehicle for the proposed work.GSA has created a motor vehicle executive committee of leaders from all 23 department headquarters in the federal government to identify and solve potential problems and ensure fleets meet requirements.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)