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Vermont Clean Cities Newsletter
November 2012
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Welcome to the VTCCC Newsletter:
Your clearing house for news, programs, and funding information related to reducing the consumption of petroleum for transportation in Vermont.
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Upcoming Events
"A Summary of Sustainable Transportation Research at UVM"
November 30, 2012, 3pm
102 Aiken Center
Austin Troy, Director, Transportation Research Center
RSENR Fall 2012 Speaker Series
Vermont Community Energy and Climate Action Conference
December 1, 2012
Lake Morey Resort
Fairlee, VT
VTCCC coordinator Tom McGrath will present at the afternoon panel "Transportation Solutions that Drive Down Greenhouse Gas Emissions"
The Future of Transportation Funding in Vermont
December 4, 2012
4:00-5:30pm
Billings North Lounge, UVM
Panelists:
Joan Shannon, Burlington City Council
Michele Boomhower, CCMPO Director
Brian Searles, VTrans Secretary
Matthew Hake, FHWA
Free Green Training Courses at Vermont Technical College
January 4, 2013: Intro to Electric Drive Vehicles
February 15, 2013: Auto Body Technician: Hybrid Vehicle Repair and Service
Biomass to Biofuels Course
4 credits, January 25 to April 26, 2013
Fridays and Saturdays 1:00 pm-4:30pm
Location: UVM Campus and throughout Vermont for field trips and hands-on experience
Green Truck Summit
March 5-6, 2013
Indiana Conference Center, Indianapolis, IN
Held in Conjunction with NTEA's Work Truck Show
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DOE News
Energy Department Announces New Clean Cities Projects to Diversify U.S. Fuel Economy, Prepare for Advanced Vehicles
VTCCC part of five-state award, one of 20 new projects funded.
EV-Everywhere: Making Electric Vehicles More Affordable
This initiative, the second of President Obama's Clean Energy Grand Challenges, has held workshops, released framing documents, and engaged with social media.
Argonne, with Support from Clean Cities, Releases New GREET Fleet Footprint Calculator to Measure Various Fuels
The tool measures the petroleum displacement and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of medium and heavy-duty vehicles and off-road equipment.
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Vermont News
Vermont Clean Cities Coalition Leads Formation of New England Clean Fleet Certification Program
The program will set standards for and recognize public and private fleets across New England for their efforts in reducing petroleum fuel consumption.
Officials with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority unveiled a larger, plusher addition to the Queen City-Capital
LINK Express fleet with seven new buses.
132 More Bike Racks Coming to Vermont
The Vermont Agency of Transportation announced the location of 132 racks it will buy for public locations in 42 towns around the state.
VTrans Secretary Brian Searles discusses key issues, including passenger rail service.
Mayor Weinberger discusses transportation hot topics such as Champlain Parkway and the Downtown Burlington Transit Center.
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National News
 Hybrids and Electric Vehicles Do Well in Reliability Survey The survey predicts the reliability of 2013 models based on tracking of the reliability of vehicles up to 10 years old. Schwan's Continues Heavy Usage of Propane Autogas The company has been powering delivery vehicles with propane since the early 1970s, and has 18 propane-fueled trucks in Vermont. Tesla Model S wins Motor Trend's Car of  the Year The announcement is viewed as a boost for the EV industry. Ryder's Natural Gas Fleet Surpasses 6 Million Miles Since deploying its natural gas truck program in 2011, the vehicles have replaced approximately 923,000 gallons of diesel fuel and reduced emissions by more than 2,300 MTCO2e. |
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International News
Free Electric Vehicle Chargers Offered in London Trials  The Low Carbon London trials, according to its backers, "are designed to prepare Britain's power infrastructure for greater use by electric vehicles and enable the vehicles to be recharged conveniently in London, both at home and on-street."
China already has more than one million natural gas automobiles on the road, and about 100,000 new vehicles are put into use each year.
The vessel, the first of its type, will spend much of its time in one place, over a natural gas field called Prelude, about 120 miles off the coast of Australia. |
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
2013 Environmental Justice Small Grants
The Environmental Justice Small Grants Program supports and empowers communities working on solutions to local environmental and public health issues. The program assists recipients in building collaborative partnerships to help them understand and address environmental and public health issues in their communities. Successful collaborative partnerships involve not only well-designed strategic plans to build, maintain and sustain the partnerships, but also working towards addressing the local environmental and public health issues.
Applicants must be incorporated non-profits, federally recognized tribal governments, or tribal organizations working to educate, empower and enable their communities to understand and address local environmental and public health issues. EPA will host four pre-application teleconference calls to help applicants understand the requirements. Applications are due 1/7/13. For more information click here.
2012 School Bus Replacement Rebate
As part of the Diesel Emission Reduction Program (DERA), EPA is offering rebates to both public and private fleets for clean diesel projects. The first rebate program is targeting the replacement of older school buses. For this 2012 Pilot Funding Opportunity, $2 million has been reserved.
In January 2011, the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) was reauthorized through fiscal year 2016. A significant change in the reauthorization provided EPA with the authority to award rebates. As funding becomes available, EPA plans to target specific fleets and/or retrofit strategies to achieve significant reductions in diesel emissions. In 2012, this first-ever EPA rebate program focuses specifically on school bus replacements. Applications are due 12/14/12. For more info contact Clean Diesel Rebate or click here.
Go Vermont Grassroots Grants For Energy Committees
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) Public Transit Section is offering grants to municipalities to assist in building a statewide outreach and advocacy network for the Go Vermont Program (www.connectingcommuters.org). VTrans will provide a $500 grant to participating municipal energy committees. Go Vermont is a web-based clearinghouse for all transportation modes in Vermont, featuring an automated carpool, vanpool and public transit matching service, a vanpool program, information for State Park and Ride locations, and a link to "511" traffic conditions. The project objectives are as follows:
- Broaden Go Vermont outreach efforts
- Build relationships with local committees and advocates
- Identify local and regional transportation priorities and activities
- Increase traffic to the Go Vermont website and tools (www.connectingcommuters.org)
- Focus regional and local initiatives and advocacy efforts.
- The ultimate goal of this program is to increase program awareness, carpool registrations, numbers of van-pools and general activity on the Go Vermont website.
For more information contact Ross MacDonald or click here.
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Weekly Petro-Stats
| Gas at the Pump, VT Crude Oil Futures
Current $ 3.66/gallon $ 87.92/barrel
One Month Ago $ 3.84/gallon $ 86.68/barrel
One Year Ago $ 3.44/gallon $ 97.92/barrel
| Sources: Fuel Gauge Report, NYMEX
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Best Regards, Tom McGrath
Coordinator, Vermont Clean Cities Coalition
Funding for the Vermont Clean Cities Coalition is provided by the US Department of Energy.
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