National Conference of 

State Fleet 

Administrators

Ted Sears, NREL

October 1, 2009

NREL/PR-7A2-46707

EPAct Fleet 

and Stakeholder Workshops

NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.
Who Are We Bringing Together?

State

Alternative 

Fuel 

Providers

Federal

Transit

Municipal

Private

Other

State Fleets:

Agencies, DOTs, and 

universities/colleges

Alternative Fuel 

Providers:

Gas, electric, and gas 

& electric utilities; 

municipal power 

generators; and 

electric cooperatives

Federal:

Civilian and military 

fleets, individual 

agencies as well as 

GSA

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 2 Innovation for Our Energy Future
Why?

• Many regulated fleets lack access to the 

alternative fuels needed for EPAct 

compliance.

• Many voluntary fleets suffer the same fate.

• Fuel providers, marketers, and distributors 

may be willing to install alternative fuel 

infrastructure or otherwise supply 

alternative fuels if sufficient demand exists.

• The existing alternative fuel infrastructure 

may be underused.

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What Workshops?

• U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-

sponsored

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

(NREL)- and Clean Cities Coalition (CCC)-

hosted series of four regional workshops

• Crossing DOE program/activity boundaries 

involving the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) 

–Federal Fleets

–State and Alternative Fuel Provider Fleets

–Clean Cities

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Workshops Goals

• Solve the infrastructure issue on a local basis.

• Single fleets typically insufficient to support 

infrastructure. Workshops foster links.

– Bring to same room and table EPActmandated fleets, voluntary fleets, and fuel 

providers

– Facilitate cooperation needed for new 

infrastructure

– Educate about existing under-used 

infrastructure

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Approach

• Explicitly bring in the regulated fleets in the 

region of each workshop to:

–Serve as anchor fleets

–Identify specific needs

–Identify willingness to use specific 

infrastructure

–Help determine where the infrastructure 

should be located

–Identify willingness to share infrastructure

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Approach

• Background

–EPAct State and Fuel Provider Program

–EPAct Federal Fleet Program

–Clean Cities Program

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SFP Fleet Overall Status

• ~300 fleets covered nationally

• 10-20,000 alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) acquired 

annually. Nearly all are now E85 flexible fuel 

vehicles (FFVs)—and a few hundred natural gas 

vehicles (NGVs) per year)

– Since MY1997, 60% FFVs, ~25% NGVs, ~10% 

liquefied petroleum gas vehicles (LPGVs)

• 3-6 M gallons of B100 each year (over past 5 

years)—several times amount credited

• Virtually 100% fleet compliance—usually a few that 

DOE needs to work things out with each year, but 

these do come into compliance

• Only a handful of fleets (~10) are in Alternative 

Compliance (AC), but MY2008 was first year

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Fleet Requirements – Federal

• EPAct 1992: Federal fleets must acquire AFVs

– AFVs; Credits for Biodiesel Use

• EPAct 2005: AFVs must use AF unless they 

receive a waiver from DOE (AF unavailable or too 

expensive)

– 53% of federal dual-fueled AFVs waivered in 

FY2009

• OMB: Reduce the number of waivers received 

annually from DOE

• E.O. 13423: 2% annual petroleum reduction and 

10% annual AF use increase requirements

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 9 Innovation for Our Energy Future
Federal Fleet Overall Status – Acquisitions

Feds 

acquired 

more than 

twice as 

many AFVs 

as required, 

but ...

... more 

than 66,000 

federal 

AFVs 

received 

waivers for 

AF use 

Biodiesel credits

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

AFV Requirements

AFV Acquisitions

Credits

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Federal Fleet Overall Status – Acquisitions & Inventory

Hydrogen: 1 

Vehicle

Electric: 6 Vehicles

LPG: 3 Vehicles

CNG: 119 Vehicles 

E85: 27,330 

Vehicles

E85:128,491 Vehicles

LPG: 216 Vehicles

LNG: 33 Vehicles

Electric: 83 Vehicles

Hydrogen: 2 Vehicles CNG: 8,195 Vehicles

Total FY2008 AFV Acquisitions by 

Covered Federal Agencies 

Total FY2008 AFV Inventory of 

Covered Federal Agencies 

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Federal Fleet Overall Status – Acquisitions & Inventory

2008 Diesel Use:

• More than 41 M 

GGE diesel 

• Less than 7 M 

GGE biodiesel 

Use of biodiesel (B20 

and up) can be a 

cheap alternative for 

acquisition credits.

More than 66,000 Federal Diesel Vehicles Nationwide

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Approach

• Available Tools

– Vehicles and locations, station locator, and 

more

• Fuel Presentations

– Individual fuels

• Breakout Sessions

– Regions broken into distinct geographic 

areas

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Approach

• Tools

– Waivered Vehicle Data for Federal Fleet

– Info on SFP Fleets concerning local 

POCs/fleet locations

– Station locator

• Combined provides for instructive and 

conversation-starting maps

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Fleets and Fueling Locations by Region

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Innovation for Our Energy Future

GIS Analyses 

15
So Where’s this Leave Us?

• Fleets need help to increase use of 

alternative fuels, either to meet regulatory 

requirements, fleet initiatives, or voluntary 

commitments

–Teaming with other fleets to create 

sufficient demand for alternative fuels

–Fuel providers willing to install 

infrastructure

• Breakouts provide opportunity for fleet and 

fuel representatives to discuss needs and 

next steps

• The beginning of an ongoing dialogue!

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Where/When Were They Held?

2 1

3

4

1. Williamsburg, VA: 

June 16

2. Denver, CO: Aug. 5

3. Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX: 

Aug. 18

4. Miami, FL: Sept.17

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Workshop Results

• Attendance averaged 50 stakeholders

• Questionnaires

• Team-led breakout sessions by REGIONS 

with MAPS – floating fuel providers

• Lessons learned

– Successful

• Capable CCC coordinator

• Demand and active participation

• Preliminary indications

– As many as 10 new alt fuel infrastructure sites

– Helping open access to fuel at private stations

– Helping stations know fleets out there with 

demand

– Access to one another’s fuel

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Next Steps for Workshops

• Follow-ups

• Additional EPAct Workshops

• Fuel Retailer Workshops (follow-up 

workshops)

• EPAct Workshop Toolkit

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Steps for Your Fleet: Infrastructure Development Strategies

Know your fleet

– Inventory your fleet and estimate fuel 

demand by location

Locate and use existing alt fuel stations

– AFDC Tools – station locator and mobile 

locator

– Concentrate on fleet locations with most 

vehicles first

Locate other nearby fleets lacking alt fuel 

access

– Use available data

– E.g., Section 701 waiver data; aggregate 

demand

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Infrastructure Development Strategies (cont’d)

Partner with Clean Cities

– Fosters networking with non-feds to 

aggregate demand, attract development

Attract new public refueling stations

– Identify stations with existing interest in 

providing alternative fuel

– Determine how much alternative fuel your 

and partner fleets will require

– Identify fuel providers and infrastructure 

developers operating in your area

– E85 Retail Business Case: When and Why 

to Sell E85

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 21 Innovation for Our Energy Future
Tools and Links

TransAtlas: http://rpm.nrel.gov/transatlas/launch/

PREP: https://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/prep/index.php

Alt Fuel Station locator: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/locator/stations/

Mobile Locator: www.afdc.energy.gov/stations/m/

(accessible from internet-capable mobile devices)

State Specific info: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/states/

Laws & Incentives: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/incentives_laws.html

Light Duty Vehicle Search: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/light

Heavy Duty Vehicle Search: 

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/heavy

State Assessment for biomass resources: 

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/sabre/index.php

Data, Analysis & Trends: 

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/data/index.html

Fuels Page: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/index.html

Vehicles Page: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/index.html

AFDC RSS Feed: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/rss_feed.html

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 22 Innovation for Our Energy Future