Living Green

Austin moves toward greener fleet

Combination of alternative fuels, hybrids part of plan to be 'carbon neutral' by 2020

Even the garbage trucks are going green.

The City of Austin is trying to make its fleet of more than 4,400 vehicles "carbon neutral" by 2020, a goal set in Mayor Will Wynn's Climate Protection Plan that requires a mix of more efficient and cleaner-burning fuels.

Carbon-neutral plans involve reducing carbon emissions through various steps and offsetting the remainder through other activities, such as planting trees, which absorb carbon in the air.

Technology hasn't advanced enough to make a carbon-neutral fleet a reality without offsets — combustion engines will always produce emissions — but steps toward greater efficiency and alternative fuels will push Austin closer to its goal, said Jake Stewart, manager of the Climate Protection Plan.

"We need to be serious about this issue and take action," Stewart said. "We want to set an example that this is not something we should sit on our hands about. It behooves all of us for future generations' sake to take action in a sensible, rational way."

The city has spent more than $8 million since 2007 to convert and replace traditional vehicles and fuel stations and is about halfway through the process. The fleet now includes six garbage trucks that run on compressed natural gas, 248 vehicles that can use E85 — a blend of 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol — 271 propane-powered vehicles and 151 hybrids, mostly Toyota Priuses and Ford Escape sport-utility vehicles.

And after the conversion of a fueling station this spring, the city's 1,603 diesel-powered vehicles, including dump trucks, street sweepers and firetrucks, are switching to biodiesel — a version of diesel that uses plant oils.

The city bought its first three hybrid vehicles in 2000. But when the Austin City Council approved the Austin Climate Protection Plan last year, the green fleet conversion was pushed up a notch. Under the plan, all vehicles are evaluated when they come up for replacement to see whether they are the right size for the task (no need for a truck to travel to meetings) and are running on the cleanest possible fuel.

Austin officials say the program's main goal is to reduce the city's carbon emissions. Long term, they say, they also expect to save money by reducing the city's gasoline consumption.

But it doesn't come without some higher prices up front. Buying a Prius or Escape costs about $4,000 to $8,000 more per vehicle. A compressed natural gas garbage truck costs about $56,000 more than a diesel model, a cost the city helped offset with $33,000 grants from the state for each vehicle.

The city's growing mix of alternative fuels, some of them biofuels and others fossil fuels that burn cleaner than gasoline or diesel, also carry different price tags from their traditional counterparts.

Propane and compressed natural gas are cheaper than gasoline and diesel but require retrofits or new vehicles and new fueling stations.

The diesel fleet is making the transition to B20 biodiesel, a mix of 80 percent diesel and 20 percent biofuels that are derived in part from soybeans and cottonseed oil. That switch requires changing the fuels, not modifying the vehicles.

And although some of the city's new vehicles, including 118 police squad cars, will run on E85, the remainder of the city's unleaded gasoline fleet will start using E10 ethanol, a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent unleaded gasoline that doesn't require specialized vehicles.

But the fuels have their drawbacks. Propane and compressed natural gas are nonrenewable fossil fuels. Studies have questioned whether biodiesel is actually cleaner burning. And biodiesel and ethanol, often made of soybeans and corn, have drawn criticism worldwide amid rising food prices.

Corn-based ethanol, in particular, has been maligned by a host of people ranging from Gov. Rick Perry to United Nations officials. Critics say it requires more energy to produce than it generates and raises the price of corn, a feed crop for livestock, pinching farmers and inflating grocery bills for consumers.

And mileage isn't expected to be as high per gallon for vehicles operating on ethanol, biodiesel or compressed natural gas.

Austin's Stewart said the city is watching the development of other biofuels, such as some biodiesel derived from agricultural waste or wood chips, and could switch to those sources if they become viable.

The investment in alternative fuels and hybrids is worth it as unleaded gas prices hover around $4 per gallon, and the cleaner-burning fuels lead to better air quality and less dependence on gasoline and diesel, Wynn said.

"I think, fundamentally, most folks and most city employees recognize the benefits both operationally for the city and environmentally to the community," Wynn said.

The City of Austin uses about 5 million gallons of fuel annually and has spent more on fuel than it budgeted the past three fiscal years. By the time fiscal year 2008 ends in September, the city expects to have exceeded its $12.8 million fuel budget by $2.7 million.

The city spent $3,150 to clean out tanks at 42 city-owned diesel stations to accommodate biodiesel. And it's spent $1.2 million on two compressed natural gas stations.

Austin isn't the only city rethinking the types of vehicles and fuels its fleet uses. Dozens of municipalities across the country, including Portland, Ore., and Dallas, have started building "green fleets."

Dallas owns more than 175 hybrids and more than 1,200 compressed natural gas vehicles. Dallas started buying natural gas vehicles in the early 1990s and now evaluates every vehicle, both for its size and for potential environmentally friendly alternatives, when it comes up for replacement, according to Laura Fiffick, director of Dallas' Office of Environmental Quality.

Smaller cities, including Georgetown, Round Rock and San Marcos, also have hybrids in their fleets.

The increased demand from cities, coupled with the purchasing power of private companies with large fleets such as Coca-Cola and FedEx, will push manufacturers to make more hybrid vehicles and try new technologies, said Rachel Beckhardt, a project manager with the Environmental Defense Fund.

Austin officials are counting on some of those new technologies to help them meet their carbon-neutral fleet goal.

"Ultimately, we need to move away from combustion entirely," Stewart said. "We know we're going to rely on some technological improvements to get there."

Randell Nations, chief of operations support for the Austin Fire Department, said firefighters asked lots of questions about fuel and performance when they found out about the fuel switch.

"We had our reservations. We were a little skittish to just switch over these types of emergency vehicles," Nations said. "Right now, everything is working fine."

Specialist James Tucker, who has driven fire engines for more than 20 years, said firefighters would be quick to raise complaints if the new fuel wasn't working.

"I haven't really been able to notice any difference in the performance," Tucker said.