Clean fuel options

The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) and the other members of the Alternative Fuel Trade Alliance continue their nationwide training program on alternative fuel at a workshop for fleet managers Thursday, October 28 in Albany, NY.

This free workshop, held in Albany’s Crown Hotel Plaza, is the seventh in a series of 14 training seminars across the country made possible by a $1.6 million grant from the Energy Department. The workshops cover alternative fuel quality, infrastructure, available vehicles, safety, the latest technologies, and the environmental impact of propane, ethanol, biodiesel, and compressed natural gas.

Each workshop culminates with a ride-and-drive event that gives workshop participates a chance to get behind the wheel of vehicles that run on alternative fuels.

The Alternative Fuel Trade Alliance consists of PERC, the Renewable Fuels Association, the National Biodiesel Board, and the Clean Vehicle Education Foundation. Fuels represented include propane, ethanol, biodiesel, and compressed natural gas.

Each of the full-day collaborative workshops scheduled over the next two years will involve a site in the Energy Department’s Clean Cities program, which uses local coalitions to promote the use of alternative fuels such as propane.

Workshops are scheduled for November 16 in Arlington, TX, and December 9 in San Francisco. Workshop sites for 2011 include San Diego, Seattle, Orlando, FL, and Kansas City, MO.

Vehicles and equipment fueled by propane, the most widely used alternative fuel, include trucks, vans, school buses, shuttles, forklifts, and commercial mowers.

To register for a workshop or view an archived webcast, visit www.altfuelsalliance.org.

PERC promotes the safe and efficient use of propane as a transportation fuel for its cost-effectiveness, efficiency and productivity, reliability, portability, and environmental friendliness. For more information on PERC and its programs, visit www.autogasusa.org.