Maine Clean Communities logo

January, 2012

Maine Clean Communities'
Winter Newsletter
In This Issue
ACT Expo 2012
New I-Phone App
Petroleum Reduction Survey
MC2 Website Updates
Biodiesel Workshop for Fleets
SMCC Alternative Fuels Course
Work Truck Show
Some Alternative Fuel Tax Breaks Eliminated

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ACT Expo 2012 


The 2012 Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, North America's largest alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technologies show, will be held in Long Beach, CA May 14-17, 2012.

Contact ACT today to plan your participation in the 2012 ACT Expo!
 

Opportunities include: 

  • Expo Hall, where buyers and sellers connect
  • Multi-day ride-and-drive events
  • Evening receptions and dinners
  • Tours to local projects and facilities
  • Pre-show marketing initiatives

Click HERE to view the full Prospectus.

 

Click HERE to view the 2011 Sponsor and Exhibitor Event Summary. 

Click HERE 
to be contacted by event organizers about participating in the ACT Expo.

 

iPhone App for First Responders

   

This first responder quick reference guide, now available as an Apple "app", and developed by the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC), is a tool for emergency personnel who need to access information about alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles at an accident scene.

apple-iphone

This app contains information on advanced technology vehicles such as hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery, and fuel cell electric vehicles, as well as vehicles powered by alternative fuels such as biodiesel, ethanol, natural gas, propane, and hydrogen.

 

You will find detailed, vehicle-specific information including identification mechanisms, disconnect procedures, and other special concerns.

Although similar, each vehicle has distinct differences that make it unique, and first responders need to know and understand these differences.

 

This app can be used on both the iPhone and the iPad.
 

Stay tuned for news about upcoming First Responder Training classes for AFV's.

Calling All Fleets! 

Helps Us Track Petroleum Reduction Measures in 2011
 
   

It's that time of the year again. Maine Clean Communities is collecting data for the Department of Energy's 2011 Annual Report for Maine which will help demonstrate the progress we've made toward reducing the region's dependence on petroleum.  This information may also help our coalition and stakeholders apply for future funding opportunities and incentives.

 

Please take a few minutes to respond to our easy, on-line survey. We will be reporting the results of the survey in our next newsletter.

 

Click here to access the survey!
 

(Please submit by
February 1, 2012.)

Updates to Maine Clean Communities' Web Site 
 

Check out the recent updates to our Maine Clean Communities' website.

Our stakeholder page now boasts  an impressive list of fifty-three Stakeholders. Click here to see the full list and to link to Stakeholders' web sites.

We have also added many new materials related to Electric Vehicles (EVs). Click here for more information.
 
 

Also, click here to check out the new "widgets" on our new Vehicle Cost Calculator page. These widget calculators estimate the annual costs of driving vehicles with different fuel types, compares them to the price of gasoline and/or diesel fuels as well as calculates the associated greenhouse gas emissions.

Biodiesel Workshop

for Fleets

January 25th, 2012 

 

1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

GPCOG, Portland

 

Click Here for More Information and to Register!

  

Maine Clean Communities will hold a workshop for fleets focused on biodiesel as a transportation fuel.

    

We will hear from experienced Maine fleet operators who are using biodiesel in blends of 5% to 40% or greater.

 

The workshop will also address the basics of biodiesel including:

  • Benefits of biodiesel as a transportation fuel;
  • Operational aspects of biodiesel for fleets;
  • Local biodiesel fuel suppliers and availability;
  • Dispelling the myths of biodiesel usage;
  • Biodiesel fuel storage and blending;
  • Cold weather considerations; and more! 

Biodiesel   

For sponsorship opportunities call

Jennifer Puser at 774-9891. 

Southern Maine Community College Logo

Alternative Fuels Course at

Southern Maine Community College


The automotive class embarked on a new journey into alternative fuels when students 
participated in the class "Overview of Alternative Fuels". Southern Maine Community College's (SMCC) automotive training center is an alternative fuel training site through a partnership with NAFTC (National Alternative Fuel Training Consortium) located in West Virginia.

 

Students participated in classroom theory of technologies used currently and those being researched for future use in the transportation field. The highlight of the class involved three local tours, set up by Maine Clean Communities' Coordinator Steve Linnell. Students were able to see alternative fuels being used locally in Maine. They toured Maine Standard Biofuels' biodiesel manufacturing facility, Scarborough Public Works (propane powered vehicles), and METRO Bus Company's (CNG powered busses). One of the unique portions of the tours was that students were able to see a CNG fueling station which is the only one in Maine. A Toyota Prius was loaned to SMCC by Berlin City Toyota for this class as well.

 

Technologies covered by the class were as follows:

 

Propane Autogas

Compressed Natural Gas

Ethanol

Methanol

Hydrogen ICE's

Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Biodiesel

Electric

Hybrid

Methane use

 

SMCC plans to offer the course next semester as well.

For more information contact Ruth
Morrison at [email protected] 

2012 Green Truck Summit 

 

The Work Truck Show is

the must-attend event for the work truck industry. 500,000 square feet of vocational trucks and equipment will be showcased along with:

      * The newest products and technical support from more than 550 exhibitors

      * More than 60 intensive programs on upfitting, regulatory compliance and business management

 

For more information and to register click here.

This year's Green Truck Summit program will address the growing demand for clean commercial vehicles topics such as:
 
   * Clean vehicle funding opportunities 
   * Deployment strategies
   * Technologies for increasing fuel efficiency 
   * Plus much more...
 

For more information and to register click here. 

New Year Brings the Elimination of Some Alternative Fuel Tax Breaks

   

Ringing in the New Year means the end of some tax breaks for alternative fuels. Several federal tax incentives expired at the beginning of the new year. Click below for information on each tax credit. 

  • Alternative Fuel Excise Tax Credit - Click here
  • Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Tax Credit - Click here
  • Biodiesel Mixture Excise Tax Credit - Click here

These tax credits have been critically important drivers for the production and use of alternative fuels. Efforts continue in Washington D.C. to reinstate these and add complementary incentives that will allow continued growth in the industry. In most cases these incentives simply balance those enjoyed by the petroleum industry for decades.

To view existing federal tax incentives click here.
 

Maine Clean Communities is a locally based government/industry partnership, coordinated by the US Department of Energy and administered by the Greater Portland Council of Governments to expand the use of alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuel, and reduce the use of petroleum for transportation.

Steve Linnell

Coordinator, Maine Clean Communities