Mayor Bill Haslam signaled the
city's commitment to pumping more alternative fuels into
its vehicle fleet Friday as he announced Knoxville's new
membership in the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition.
The promise of relief to the region's wheezing air
quality served as the kickoff to the coalition's
National AVF Day Odyssey and East Tennessee Fair, where
20 alternative fuel vehicles were on display.
Knoxville joins Oak
Ridge National Laboratory, the Knoxville Utilities
Board, the Tennessee Valley Authority and others in a
partnership that was recently designated a Clean Cities
Coalition program by the U.S. Department of Energy.
"What we're talking about today is incredibly
important to our region," Haslam told event attendees at
World's Fair Park. "We realize it's not a single
solution if we're going to change things about this
community, it's going to be through a coalition."
As one of 83 programs to achieve the Clean Cities
designation, the partners have access to annual federal
funding for new vehicles, infrastructure and outreach
activities.
Maintaining that designation also requires a
commitment to expand the region's alternative fuel fleet
by 17 percent each year, explained Jonathan Overly, the
coalition's executive director.
East Tennessee currently has about 350 such vehicles
among public and private owners, he said, and the
promise to grow shouldn't be a hard one to keep.
"I think we're going to hit over 50 percent growth
this year," Overly said. "Municipalities are probably
going to be doing most of the switching first, to set
the example."
The cities of Maryville and Alcoa and the Blount
County Highway Department have begun testing B-20
biodiesel, a low-emission fuel blend suitable for normal
diesel engines, which could be burning in 50 to 100
vehicles later this year.
Biodiesel also is expected to soon be the most
commonly used alternative fuel in the Knoxville Area
Transit's fleet, said Barry Greenberg, KAT's director of
maintenance.
Greenberg estimates that 90 percent of KAT buses will
be alternatively fueled by mid-year - a huge boost from
the 15 percent figure of its current inventory.
While Greenberg is largely responsible for overseeing
the move, he credited KAT General Manager Mark Hairr for
the securing the federal grants that have made the use
of biodiesel possible.
But KAT's shift won't be entirely because of the
enviro-friendly fuel blend, Greenberg said.
The agency is already operating 11 dedicated propane
vans and four hybrid-electric trolleys that run on a
combination of electric batteries and a propane-fired
turbine to produce "almost nonexistent" emissions, like
the one on display at Friday's event.
"It's the cleanest-burning combustion engine being
manufactured in the United States," Greenberg said.
Hayes Hickman may be reached at 865-342-6323.
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