Clean Cities 2006 Petroleum Displacement up 50% from 2005
The results are in: Clean Cities coalitions displaced 375 million gallons of gasoline in 2006–a 50% increase over 250 million gallons in 2005. This statistic is just one of many revealed in the Clean Cities Annual Metrics Report for 2006, which will be published this summer.
Of Clean Cities’ five technology areas, alternative fuels and vehicles accounted for the largest share (71%) of the total displacement. Their use reduced consumption by 268 million gallons in 2006–a 64% increase over 165 million gallons displaced in 2005. Coalitions reported an inventory total of 408,000 alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) in 2006–the majority of them (54%) are E85-capable flexible fuel vehicles.
Compressed natural gas (CNG) topped the list of alternative fuels in 2006, making up 30% of the total displacement from AFVs. As usual, the majority of the CNG was used in heavy-duty vehicles.
The use of E85 grew substantially in 2006, accounting for 24% of total gasoline displacement from AFVs. The increased usage can be attributed in part to growth in the number of E85 stations, which doubled between 2005 and 2006 (growing from 436 to 995). Use of B20 and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) accounted for 17% and 15% of the displacement from AFVs, respectively, in 2006.
Fuel economy measures taken by coalitions displaced 7.4 million gallons in 2006. Of that, 1.9 million gallons resulted from reductions in vehicle miles traveled, while the remaining 5.5 million gallons came from five coalition projects that replaced lower fuel economy vehicles with those of higher fuel economy.
Idle reduction efforts displaced 8.4 million gallons in 2006, down from 15 million gallons in 2005. Of this, on-board idle reduction technologies displaced 1.3 million gallons, and truck stop electrification displaced 1.2 million gallons. The remaining 5.9 million gallons were attributed to the implementation of idle reduction policies.
The use of low-level fuel blends, such as E10, B2, and B5, soared in 2006, displacing 10 million gallons, up from 3 million gallons in 2005. The bulk of this displacement (9 million gallons) came from E10. The use of B2 and B5 in diesel vehicles displaced 1 million gallons.
The acquisition of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) also increased in 2006. Coalitions reported almost 44,000 HEVs–a 61% increase over the 17,100 HEVs purchased in 2005. HEV use resulted in the displacement of approximately 9 million gallons of gasoline, a 137% increase over the 3.6 million gallons in 2005.
“Clean Cities made significant progress in 2006,” says Dennis Smith, Clean Cities director of technology deployment. “The displacement of 375 million gallons of gasoline shows an impressive level of commitment on the part of our coordinators and stakeholders.”