Clean Fleet Reporthybrid & electric cars smart charged with renewable energy
Solar Charged Electric Vehicles
Solar is powering more vehicles. American’s have reduced their use of petroleum 5 percent this year. So far, petroleum reduction is the result of fewer miles traveled solo as people cut travel to deal with high gas prices and a slowing economy. At the Solar Power International conference, one notable area of growth is solar covered parking structures with vehicle charging – a cool solution for a planet that is getting hotter.
Los Angeles Metro Installs Solar on Facilities Rooftops
The Metro Board of Directors has approved $5 million for a new solar generation. This starts a comprehensive three-year plan to install solar panels on every Metro Bus and Rail facility within its Los Angeles County service area. Solar panels will be installed on Metro Bus Division 18’s maintenance building rooftop and as shading structures in the employee parking lot and will consist of about 1,600 solar panels that together will generate 417 kilowatts of electricity, enough power to save Metro about $25,000 per month, or $300,000 per year.
Electric Buses with Hydrogen Fuel Cells at AC Transit
Each day, over one thousand people ride on three hydrogen fuel cell buses in Oakland and in environmentally conscious Berkeley. By 2012, five thousand people daily will be riding on twelve such buses. The only emission is water vapor. The electricity to power the reformation and the compression of the hydrogen gas is from solar power.
Solar Santa Monica
Santa Monica now has over 30 battery electric vehicles (BEV). The largest BEVs are Toyota RAVs which are used by inspectors, engineers, and in other city jobs. The city has a variety of light electric vehicles (LEV) including Dymac, Columbia, e-Ride, GEM, and Taylor-Dunn which make ideal utility vehicles for people maintaining parks, the Pier, and Promenade. The city is now planning on adding two Phoenix BEV sport utility trucks: one for the water department and one for the library. The Phoenix trucks have an impressive 130 mile range. Santa Monica will trickle recharge each night at 220 volts, rather than use Phoenix’s fast recharge option.
USMC Leadership with EVs, Biofuel and Hydrogen
The United States Marine Corp (USMC), like all branches of the Department of Defense (DoD), is exploring the use of hydrogen and other forms of clean transportation. One major motivation is that the fuel which runs U.S. Defense operations comes from oil. That oil is increasingly controlled by countries that have declared their animosity to the United States. If military fuel is controlled by the enemy, then our ability to defend this country is crippled
