[Subjectivist]

Interesting, thanks for the links. The only stuff I could find was how proud they are of their electricication of bus routes and their serial hybrid diesel electric fleet additions.

[Tanada]

TARTA (the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority) is sadly proud of their 'biodiesel initiative' where their fleet uses "up to 20 percent" biodiesel fuel. IMO this is nothing but pure green washing with a sop to local soybean farmers at most.

Hamilton on the other hand has already converted over some 20 percent of their municipal fleet and as their vehicles get replaced into the future the replacements are GNG from day one. I have a heck of a lot more respect for the Hamilton plan than the Toledo plan, Hamilton actually is doing something to improve their system.

Toledo/TARTA is just buying a small volume of different fuel, which doesn't require them to do anything at all. Toledo sits at the corner of Lake Erie, the gas lines going from the east coast to Chicago and vice versa pass through east to west, and the gas lines going north to south from Detroit to Cincinnati cross right through there as well. As a third factor there is a big corn ethanol plant northwest of here in Adrian, Michigan about 40 miles away, so if they went to burning ethanol it would make a lot more sense from a regional POV. Instead they are stuck in BAU with a little green washing coating over the top to try and appear progressive.

Green washing without actually doing anything remotely useful just really irritates the heck out of me.

[SeaGypsy]

Diesel LPG co-burn trucks are becoming very common, in Australia, only about 5 years after they started to appear. Back then dual fuel stations were rare, now standard. Despite abundant NG it has gotten nowhere as a transport fuel here, apparently due to risk averse agencies & abundant YouTube NG horror videos.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'D')iesel LPG co-burn trucks are becoming very common, in Australia, only about 5 years after they started to appear. Back then dual fuel stations were rare, now standard. Despite abundant NG it has gotten nowhere as a transport fuel here, apparently due to risk averse agencies & abundant YouTube NG horror videos.

[toolpush]

This should help the Nat gas truck market, this year, even thought the oil price is so low. Cummins are releasing a 6.7l nat gas engine, for school buses and medium trucks.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2 ... ter-s.aspx

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he ISL G 8.9 liter natural-gas engine made by CWI is installed in more trash trucks sold in the U.S. than any other engine, period. It's also a leading engine for transit buses, while the ISX12 G engine for heavy-duty applications is the primary natural-gas engine made for heavy trucking. Furthermore, this year, CWI is launching the ISB 6.7G, targeting the school bus and medium-duty market, and the ISL G Near-Zero, which will produce the lowest emissions of any combustion engine available.

[kublikhan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'T')his story says a lot about the failure of alternative fuel systems. And my record of questioning such techtopian distractions.

These alt-fuel programs (bio-fuel, H2 fuel cell, CNG, EV, etc. etc.) started in California mandated by our rightly-concerned liberal wealthy population. The programs were tried and failed for a diverse list of reasons. There is no fault in this. No blame. It just didn't work. We knew that when I came here in 2004. It was obvious when GM, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Nissan, and Chrysler destroyed their EV programs in 2006.

[kublikhan]

I think long haul trucking would be better replaced by rail than CNG trucks. Replacing what fuel they burn does not address the issue of trucks tearing up our roadways. With less trucks on the roadways they would need less maintenance. And rail is more fuel efficient and has less emissions as well. The right tool for the right job.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')rucks can wreak havoc on our environment. According to the EPA, their greenhouse gas emissions are five times as much as other modes of freight transport. And freight trucks cause more and more damage to our roadways every year. Long-haul trains are three times more fuel efficient than trucks.

[kublikhan]

As for short haul delivery vehicles, I think EV/hybrid is a good choice here. Short defined routes, lots of stop and go, centralized distribution location,
these are perfect qualities for EV/hybrid. Range anxiety is less of and issue. While regenerative braking from those frequent stops reduces wear and tear on the brakes while also recharging the batteries.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'O')ur recent review of electrification options for trucks shows that urban delivery vehicles, like those Fedex and UPS trucks delivering your holiday packages, have the potential further reduce their emissions and oil consumption with the use of hybrid and battery electric technologies. Urban delivery trucks travel short, defined routes with lots of stop-and-go operation and are often parked at a central location when not in use. These attributes make them good candidates for hybridization as well as full electrification.

With well established routes, delivery fleets know precisely how far a vehicle needs to travel during a shift and how long the vehicle is parked between shifts. A full battery electric truck with sufficient range and recharge time then becomes an option for fleets to consider. Hybrid delivery trucks can reduce gasoline or diesel consumption 25 to 35 percent , while fully electric trucks can eliminate it.

Stop-and-go driving provides more opportunities to capture some of the energy usually lost when stopping a vehicle. Both hybrids and full electric vehicles can store this energy in on-board batteries for later use, a technology known as regenerative braking. This also helps reduce wear on the trucks brakes, resulting in savings on brake replacement costs.

Hybrid heavy-duty trucks
Hybrid-electric powertrains are the most mature electric-drive truck technology presently on the road. Several truck manufacturers are now offering hybrid models, and thousands of hybrid systems are being used in applications ranging from public-transit and school buses to package- and beverage-delivery trucks.

Battery electric trucks
Fully electric trucks are a more recent available option and are seeing interest from delivery fleets and municipalities. The range of a present-day battery electric truck varies, depending on the load it carries and the capacity of its batteries, from about 50 to 100 miles per charge. Companies such as AT&T, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, and Staples have added electric delivery trucks to their fleets. Municipalities, including Chicago and New York City, are also taking an interest in electric trucks as well, seeing an opportunity to be leaders in adopting clean transportation technology, tackling urban air pollution, and creating local jobs.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'Y')es Starving, brilliant technology dependent on a different infrastructure that will never be built.