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Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Clean Cities, Source: DOE

June 14, 2013 in Environment, EV Campaigns, EV News

Use link to click on US Department of Energy Map: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/cleancities/coalitions/coalition_locations.php

Source: US Department of Energy, Clean Cities

Source: US Department of Energy, Clean Cities

This article is part of the Energy.gov series highlighting the “Top Things You Didn’t Know About…” Be sure to check back for more entries soon.

10. For 20 years, the Energy Department’s Clean Cities program has supported local actions to reduce oil consumption in transportation. But ever wonder how the program got its start? Clean Cities was created in response to the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to provide resources for required and voluntary adopters of alternative fuel vehicles.

9. Since the program started, local Clean Cities coalitions have grown from six in 1993 to nearly 100 today, representing almost 75 percent of the U.S. population. These coalitions — which are made up of private companies, fuel suppliers, local governments, vehicle manufacturers and community organizations — work to advance alternative fuel use by educating drivers and fleet owners, overcoming technical hurdles and collaborating on transportation projects.

8. Our National Parks are reducing air pollution and lowering their fuel costs as part of the Clean Cities National Parks Initiative. Check out a map of the National Parks Initiative partners to learn how they are using alternative fuels, incorporating advanced vehicle technologies into their fleets and educating park visitors about sustainable driving habits.

7. Clean Cities coalitions have helped deploy nearly 550,000 alternative fuel vehicles on the road today and in 2012 alone saved almost 400 million gallons of oil. More than 55 percent of this savings came from vehicles that run on natural gas.

6. In order to meet the fueling needs of these vehicles, Clean Cities helps develop fueling infrastructure across the country. The program installed nearly 1,500 charging and alternative fueling stations as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

5. Through the National Clean Fleets Partnership, Clean Cities works with large companies to integrate alternative fuels and fuel economy improvements in their fleets. Since President Obama announced the initiative in 2011, more than 20 partners, including FedEx and UPS, have joined the National Clean Fleets Partnership. These partners represent some of the nation’s largest commercial fleets and collectively operate more than 1 million vehicles.

4. Clean Cities has funded more than 500 transportation projects nationwide that leveraged more than $740 million in funds from other organizations in the public and private sectors.

3. In 2012 alone, Clean Cities activities — which include idle-reduction measures and fuel economy improvements — helped prevent nearly 7 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. That’s like taking more than 1.5 million cars off the road for an entire year.

2. Clean Cities has saved nearly 5.5 billion gallons of petroleum since 1993. In the past six years, Valley of the Sun Clean Cities coalition in Phoenix, Twin Cities Clean Cities in Minnesota and Southern California Clean Cities have displaced a total of about 135 million gallons of gasoline each.

1. Did you know: There are nearly 11,900 public plug-in electric vehicle and alternative fueling stations across the U.S. Whether you are looking for hydrogen, biodiesel, natural gas or electric charging stations, the Alternative Fuels Data Center — the clearinghouse for Clean Cities’ alternative fuel and vehicle information — maps out the different fueling locations available across the country.

This article is a repost, credit: Rebecca Matulka, Digital Communications Specialist, Office of Public Affairs, US Department of Energy, http://energy.gov/articles/top-10-things-you-didn-t-know-about-clean-cities.

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Top 11 Things You Didn’t Know About Fuel Cells, Source: DOE

May 17, 2013 in Electric Bus, Electric Vehicles, EV News

Zero Emission Bay Area (ZEBA) -- a group of regional transit agencies in Northern California -- operates twelve, zero-emission, fuel cell buses in real-world service throughout the Bay Area’s diverse communities and landscapes. | Photo courtesy of Leslie Eudy, NREL.

Zero Emission Bay Area (ZEBA) — a group of regional transit agencies in Northern California — operates twelve, zero-emission, fuel cell buses in real-world service throughout the Bay Area’s diverse communities and landscapes. | Photo courtesy of Leslie Eudy, NREL.

This article is part of the Energy.gov series highlighting the “Top Things You Didn’t Know About…” Be sure to check back for more entries soon.

11. Similar to a battery, a fuel cell is a device that produces electricity through an electrochemical reaction — a chemical reaction that generates electricity without any combustion. Unlike batteries, fuel cells don’t run down or need recharging. As long as there is a constant source of fuel and oxygen, fuel cells will continue to generate power. Check out the fuel cell animation to learn how fuel cells work.

10. First invented in 1839 by Welsh scientist William Robert Grove, the fuel cell wasn’t commercially used until the 1960s. As part of Project Gemini — which took part from 1962-1966 — NASA used fuel cells to generate power for probes, satellites and space capsules.

9. While hydrogen is a common fuel source for fuel cells, it isn’t the only one. Fuel cells can produce electricity using hydrogen-rich fuels, such as biogas, natural gas, propane, methanol and diesel.

8. Fuel cells have the potential to revolutionize the way we power the nation. Hydrogen-powered fuel cells are not only pollution-free — the only emissions are heat and water as byproducts — but they also can have more than two times the efficiency of traditional combustion technologies.

7. As of 2012, the U.S. has 1,000 fuel cell patents — that’s more patents than any other clean energy technology, including solar. Energy Department-funded fuel cell and hydrogen R&D has led to the development of more than 413 patents, 39 commercial technologies and more than 65 technologies that are projected to be commercialized within the next 3-5 years.

6. A single fuel cell produces about 1 volt of power. To increase the amount of electricity generated, individual fuel cells are combined to create a fuel cell stack. Depending on the application, a fuel cell stack may only contain a few cells — such as when used for portable power generation for laptops or other consumer electronics — or hundreds of individual cells — like when used to power passenger vehicles.

5. Since 2002, the Energy Department has helped reduce the cost of automotive fuel cells by more than 80 percent — an achievement that is well on the way to providing cost-parity with internal combustion engines.

4. Fuel cells can be used in a wide range of applications — not just light-duty transportation. Companies — such as FedEx, Sysco, Walmart and Coca Cola — are using fuel cells to power material handling equipment like forklifts, and major telecommunications companies — such as Sprint and AT&T — are using them as emergency backup power for cell phone towers all over the country.

3. Fuel cells have the potential to be used as portable soldier power in the battlefield and unmanned underwater vehicles for the Navy.

2. In addition to power generation, fuel cells are used in co-generation or combined heat and power (CHP) in stationary applications to heat and power our homes and buildings. Last year, the Energy Department showcased the world’s first tri-generation fuel cell system in Fountain Valley, California. The system produces power and heat for Orange County’s waste water treatment plant, and enough hydrogen to fuel 25-50 fuel cell electric vehicles a day.

1. The Energy Department is testing the potential for fuel cells in even more applications, including as auxillary power (power that is used for things other than propulsion) for large container ships and ground support equipment at airports.

This article is a repost, credit: US Department of Energy, Rebecca Matulka, Digital Communications Specialist, Office of Public Affairs, http://energy.gov/articles/top-11-things-you-didn-t-know-about-fuel-cells.

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Top 9 Things You Didn’t Know about Carbon Fiber, Source: DOE

March 29, 2013 in EV News, Greentech

The Energy Department’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory provides clean energy companies and researchers with the opportunity to develop less expensive, better-performing carbon fiber materials and manufacturing processes. Pictured here is the carbon fiber conversion line with the in-line melt spinner. The melt-spinner will be used to produce new precursor fibers that will then be converted to carbon fiber. In collaboration with industrial partners, these fibers will be used to produce prototype composite parts for applications, such as automotive parts, wind turbine blades and thermal insulation. | Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Energy Department’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory provides clean energy companies and researchers with the opportunity to develop less expensive, better-performing carbon fiber materials and manufacturing processes. Pictured here is the carbon fiber conversion line with the in-line melt spinner. The melt-spinner will be used to produce new precursor fibers that will then be converted to carbon fiber. In collaboration with industrial partners, these fibers will be used to produce prototype composite parts for applications, such as automotive parts, wind turbine blades and thermal insulation. | Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

This article is part of the Energy.gov series highlighting the “Top Things You Didn’t Know About…” 

9. Carbon fiber — sometimes known as graphite fiber — is a strong, stiff, lightweight material that has the potential to replace steel and is popularly used in specialized, high-performance products like aircrafts, racecars and sporting equipment.

8. Carbon fiber was first invented near Cleveland, Ohio, in 1958. It wasn’t until a new manufacturing process was developed at a British research center in 1963 that carbon fiber’s strength potential was realized.

7. Current methods for manufacturing carbon fiber tend to be slow and energy intensive, making it costly for use in mass-produced applications. With a goal of reducing carbon fiber production costs by 50 percent, the Energy Department’s new Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is working with manufacturers and researchers to develop better and cheaper processes for producing carbon fibers. Lowering the cost of carbon fibers make it a viable solution for vehicles and a wide variety of clean energy applications.

6. The 42,000-square foot facility features a 390-foot-long processing line that is capable of producing up to 25 tons of carbon fiber a year — that is enough carbon fiber to cover the length of almost 138,889 football fields.

5. The most common carbon fiber precursor — the raw material used to make carbon fibers — is polyacrylonitrile (or PAN), accounting for more than 90 percent of all carbon fiber production. Other precursors options include a common plastic and a wood byproduct.

4. As part of conventional carbon fiber production, precursors go through several processes that include stretching, oxidation (to raise the melting temperature) and carbonization in high-temperature furnaces that vaporize about 50 percent of the material, making it nearly 100 percent carbon.

3. Carbon fiber can be woven into a fabric that is suitable for use in defense applications or added to a resin and molded into preformed pieces, such as vehicle components or wind turbine blades.

2. The next generation of carbon-fiber composites could reduce passenger car weight by 50 percent and improve fuel efficiency by about 35 percent without compromising performance or safety — an advancement that would save more than $5,000 in fuel over the life of the car at today’s gasoline prices.

1. In addition to its uses in manufacturing of cars and trucks, advances in carbon fiber will help American manufacturers lower the cost and improve the performance of wind turbine blades and towers, electronics, energy storage components and power transmission lines.

This article is a repost, credit: Department of Energy, Rebecca Matulka, Digital Communications Specialist, Office of Public Affairs, http://energy.gov/articles/top-9-things-you-didn-t-know-about-carbon-fiber.