The second week of the Georgia Alternative Fuel Road Rally is underway as part of the FlexFuel Awareness Campaign, and one message of focus delivered by the ethanol and agriculture industries was that of the benefits of high level ethanol blends and flex fuel vehicles (FFvs). FFVs and ethanol blends are an option for private and government fleets, according to the Clean Fuels Foundation, one of the lead sponsors of the event. FFVs and ethanol can be very competitive among the family of legally defined alternative fuels.
During the Georgia events, Clean Fuels Executive Director Doug Durante gave a series of presentations and media interviews and took the opportunity to remind people that this is about clean air, consumer choice and energy independence. “With prices jumping once again as a result of instability in the middle east, we can fight back with domestic alternatives. In the case of flex fuels this is an easy, immediate choice we can make to take advantage of the 20 million FFVs in use by fleets and consumers,” said Durante.
The Alternative Fuel Road Show, now in its 4th year, is America’s largest clean fuel vehicle educational tour and is designed to reach fleet managers, civic leaders, and state legislators to help them make informed decisions about transitioning to clean, alternative transportation fuels. The 2014 Georgia Alternative Fuel Road Show kicked off at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta with a media event and a workshop for fleet managers. The Show will roar through 8 cities in total in Georgia, all with media and workshop events.
Durante praised the efforts of the military to lead by example as the tour visited the massive Warner Robins Air Force base in Georgia which is aggressively using E85 on base. The FlexFuel vehicles are required to fill up on E85 and the staff has implemented several creative approaches to ensure they do so.
He also commended Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols who created the tour and attends every session. “Mr. Echols is equally supportive of natural gas and propane, electric vehicles, and E85 and is working to get more flex fuel pumps in the state. He drives a personal FFV running on E85 and is on a mission to reduce petroleum use in every way possible. We truly appreciate what he is doing for the state and the alternative fuels movement,” said Durante.
“As part of an ‘all of the above’ approach, this Road Show showcases all the alternative fuels, and they all have their strengths and advantages in a given situation. We are pleased to be part of this successful effort and make sure biofuels like ethanol are in the mix,” Durante concluded.
Durante also noted that many of the city and fleet managers they met with were very interested in getting a better understanding of the options that FlexFuel Vehicles provide, including being able to use any combination of gasoline ethanol blends.