All posts in Fleets

Source: ScienceDaily (Aug. 9, 2012)

As the world’s accessible oil reserves dwindle, natural gas has become an increasing important energy source. The primary component of natural gas is methane, which has the advantage of releasing less carbon dioxide when it’s burned than do many other hydrocarbon fuels. But because of the very stable structure of the methane molecule, it can be difficult to access the energy stored within. When unburned methane escapes into the atmosphere, it’s a greenhouse gas 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

Now, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, along with collaborators from Italy and Spain, have created a material that catalyzes the burning of methane 30 times better than do currently available catalysts.

The discovery offers a way to more completely exploit energy from methane, potentially reducing emissions of this powerful greenhouse gas from vehicles that run on natural gas. The catalyst may also offer a cleaner and cheaper way of generating energy from catalytic combustion in gas turbines.

“It’s hard to come up with materials that are active enough and stable enough to withstand the harsh conditions of methane combustion,” said Raymond J. Gorte, the Russell Pearce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Professor in Penn’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. “Our materials look promising for some important applications.”

Matteo Cargnello, now a postdoctoral fellow in Penn’s Department of Chemistry, joined Gorte and Kevin Bakhmutsky, a former Ph.D. student in Gorte’s lab, in the study. Their collaborators included Paolo Fornasiero and Tiziano Montini of Italy’s University of Trieste and National Research Council and José J. Calvino, Juan José Delgado and Juan Carlos Hernández Garrido of the Universidad de Cádiz in Spain. The study is published in the journal Science.

Cargnello began work on this project while still an undergraduate at the University of Trieste, during a visit to Gorte’s laboratory, and continued the collaboration as he pursued his doctoral degree at the Graduate School of Nanotechnology at the University of Trieste.

Catalysts are materials that make a chemical transformation quicker, easier, more energy-efficient and often safer. A car’s catalytic converter, for example, transforms exhaust gases into innocuous products.

Catalysts that are currently available to burn methane, however, do not do so completely, leaving unburned methane to escape into the atmosphere and contribute to climate change.

“Particularly if you have a natural-gas engine, methane is going to be a major part of that tailpipe exhaust,” Gorte said.

In addition, these conventional catalysts can require high temperatures of 600-700 degrees Celsius to encourage reactions to move along. Yet the catalysts themselves often lose their efficiency or deactivate when exposed to the high temperatures generated by methane combustion.

Additional environmental harm can result when methane is used to produce energy in a gas turbine. In this process, methane is typically burned at very high temperatures, in excess of 800 degrees C. When those temperatures rise to around 1,300 degrees C or higher, the reaction can produce harmful byproducts, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and carbon monoxide.

Conventional catalysts for methane combustion are composed of metal nanoparticles, and in particular palladium (Pd), deposited on oxides such as cerium oxide (CeO₂). Tweaking that approach, the researchers instead used a method that relies on self-assembly of nanoparticles. They first built the palladium particles — just 1.8 nanometers in diameter — and then surrounded them with a protective porous shell made of cerium oxide, creating a collection of spherical structures with metallic cores.

Because small particles such as these tend to clump together when heated and because these clumps can reduce a catalyst’s activity, the team deposited them on a hydrophobic surface composed of aluminum oxide to ensure they were evenly distributed.

“These techniques are common in the nanotechnology community, but I think it’s a novel approach in making catalyst materials,” Gorte said.

Testing the material’s activity, the researchers found that their core-shell nanostructure performed 30 times better than the best methane combustion catalysts currently available, using the same amount of metal. It completely burned methane at 400 degrees C.

“It’s possible to envision this catalyst contributing to pollution control from automotive exhaust and maybe even improving the efficiency of gas turbines,” Cargnello said.

The researchers plan to further study the structure of the new catalyst to better understand why it works so well. And they will use similar methods to create new materials to test.

“We can use this assembly method to test different types of metals and oxides,” Cargnello said. “That will allow us to prepare a whole library of materials, some of which might be very good at catalyzing reactions besides methane combustion.”

The study was funded by the University of Trieste and Consortium INSTM, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and Spain’s Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Watch a video depicting the catalyst’s structure here: http://youtu.be/lVGgPvUhGYw

Source: AlternativeFuels.about.com

Everyone likes to save money, right? And wouldn’t it be great if you could combine saving with living lighter on the earth? Read on.

Varieties of federal incentives are available in the United States that will ease your transition to alternative fuels. Most of these incentives are tax credits, meaning they will reduce the amount of net tax you owe—that’s different than just another deduction—which could mean bigger savings for you. Of course, always check with your tax professional for current, accurate advice on any tax credits or deductions.

Depending upon the vehicle and fuel you choose, check out the credits available:

Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit

Did you buy a new alternative fuel vehicle and place it in service after January 1, 2006? You may be eligible for this credit. This legislation provides a tax credit equal to 50 percent of the incremental cost of the vehicle, plus an additional 30 percent of the incremental cost for vehicles with near-zero emissions.

Exactly how much of a credit are we talking about?

The figures are based on vehicle weight as follows:

• $5,000: 8,500 GVWR or lighter
• $10,000: 8,501 to 14,000 GVWR
• $25,000: 14,001 to 26,000 GVWR
• $40,000: 26,001 GVWR and heavier

As the buyer of the vehicle, you’ll need to download IRS Form 8910 to claim the credit. This legislation replaces the Clean Fuel Vehicle Property Tax Deduction from earlier years. Download IRS Notice 2006-54, which establishes the credit rules for vehicle conversions.

Clean Diesel Tax Credit

This tax credit is similar to the Hybrid Motor Vehicle Credit (see below), in that it offers an income tax credit to folks who purchase models that qualify for the Advanced Lean Burn Technology Motor vehicle category. Check which vehicles qualify for the clean diesel tax credit.

Hybrid Motor Vehicle Credit

This tax credit is for light-duty hybrid vehicles (less than 8,501 GVWR) based upon their improved fuel economy and lifetime fuel savings potential. The credit has two parts: the fuel economy portion, which ranges from $400 to $2,400, and the conservation credit, which ranges from $250 to $1,000. Learn more about the hybrid tax credit.

The IRS certifies vehicles for the credit in addition to publishing qualifying credit amounts. See Notice 2006-9. This tax credit expires December 31, 2010. Learn which hybrid vehicles qualify for current hybrid tax credits.

Fuel Cell Motor Vehicle Credit

For the purchaser of a light-duty fuel cell vehicle, this is a base tax credit of $8,000, and is valid until December 31, 2009, after which it decreases to $4,000. Qualifying vehicles must meet Bin 5 Tier II emission levels.

Additional base tax credits are available for medium- and heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles; amounts are determined by the IRS and based on a sliding scale by vehicle weight. This credit is available until December 31, 2014.

Electric Vehicle Tax Credit

This credit is due to expire in 2007 and was reduced by 75 percent in 2006, so it would be wise to check with your tax professional to clarify the portion that could apply to your situation. Overall, the credit equals 10 percent of the cost of the vehicle up to $4,000, and the vehicle must be powered primarily by an electric motor drawing current from batteries or other portable sources of electricity. Business or personal vehicles qualify.

Additionally, for qualified electric vehicle recharging used in a trade or business, a tax deduction of up to $100,000 per location is available. More information is available here.

Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Tax Credit

This is a credit of up to $30,000 (equal to 30 percent of the cost of the alternative refueling property), normally reserved for businesses but it also applies to buyers of residential refueling equipment—they can receive a tax credit of $1,000. The credit is effective on equipment put into service after December 31, 2005 and expires December 31, 2009 (the hydrogen credit portion is good until 2014).

You’ll need to use the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8911, published in May 2006, to claim the credit. Download Form 8911 here for qualified property and the credit value.

Source: Environmental Leader.com

EcoDual LLC, a provider of dual fuel conversion systems for heavy duty diesel trucks, has achieved authorization from the EPA to begin installing its systems on 2004 to 2009 Cummins ISX engines.

The EcoDual conversion kit currently works with the 15L Cummins ISX engine – one of the most widely used engines in heavy duty trucking with more than 1 million currently in service, according to Eco Dual.

After conversion, existing diesel engines can operate on up to 85 percent natural gas, providing fuel cost savings. The cost of the dual fuel system can be recovered in these operational savings within one year without any government incentives, Eco Dual says.

Eco Dual’s product achieved its EPA compliance under the EPA’s “Outside Useful Life” category for truck engines with more than 435,000 miles, or more than 22,000 hours of operation, or are more than 10 years old. Over the next 12 months, EcoDual will be releasing multiple systems certified for newer trucks with the Cummins ISX and other engine families from Detroit Diesel, Mack and Caterpillar.

In January, Waste Management announced a pilot program to introduce natural gas powered Rotopress waste collection trailers while BAE Systems and Caterpillar Inc. signed a long-term supply agreement to collaborate on an energy-efficient parallel hybrid propulsion system for heavy-duty trucks.

Source: Environmental Expert.com

The Renowned Non-Profit Research Center’s Testing Results Prove EMS as the World-Leading Aircraft Refueling Innovation for Fuel Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emission Savings

COATESVILLE, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Rampmaster, the premier manufacturer of aircraft refuelers for the worldwide aviation market, has received the final testing report from West Virginia University’s Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions (CAFEE) confirming that an aircraft refueling vehicle outfitted with the company’s patented Engine Management System (EMS) consumes up to 78% less diesel fuel while pumping its jet fuel – a worldwide first in diesel fuel savings and greenhouse gas emissions. EMS is the first project released from Rampmaster’s Center for Innovation, perfected over two years of R&D and field testing to provide refueling operators with ability to achieve unparalleled savings for every gallon of jet fuel delivered.

The technology was developed by Rampmaster’s vice president of Engineering and Production, Owen Watkins, to combat the excessive inefficiencies of traditional pumping methods which run truck engines at a constant RPM during the fueling process. “No longer does a fuel truck have to waste engine fuel by moving fuel around in a bypass loop while the engine stays at a high RPM,” explained Owen. “EMS allows the engine RPM to vary up and down depending on what the aircraft needs are.”

After an extremely positive public unveiling of EMS at the NBAA 2011 show in Las Vegas, NV, West Virginia University’s CAFEE, a non-profit research center renowned for its system of successfully measuring exhaust emissions of both conventional and alternative-fueled engines, was tasked with testing and confirming the fuel consumption and emissions savings yielded by Rampmaster’s EMS innovation. In the 2^nd quarter of 2012, CAFEE traveled on-site to evaluate fuel consumption rates and emissions from three aircraft refueling vehicles at varying refueling rates: a 2005 5,000 gallon competitor truck, a 2011 5,000 gallon Freightliner with a Rampmaster EMS, and a 2011 10,000 gallon Crane Carrier Company (CCC) vehicle, evaluated with and without the Rampmaster EMS. All tests were conducted to 40 CFR Part 1065 requirements. “When WVU delivered the final report, the results were even better than we anticipated,” said Owen.

The Rampmaster EMS, when employed on the 2011 CCC chassis, resulted in significant reductions in fuel consumption – from 45% up to 78% – per 10,000 gallons delivered at all refueling rates. A comparison of fuel consumption rates between the competitor’s truck and the 2011 Freightliner chassis equipped with the Rampmaster EMS also showed up to 43% reduction in fuel consumption per 10,000 gallons delivered at all refueling rates. In addition, according to the CAFEE report, “since carbon dioxide emissions are directly correlated to fuel consumption, any reduction in fuel consumption or increase in fuel economy will result in a corresponding decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.”

“The savings in both diesel fuel and carbon emissions are unprecedented in the industry,” said Owen, “and we’re proud to be the company that is delivering this game-changing innovation to the market.” Building upon the success of EMS, Rampmaster’s Center for Innovation continues to develop leading-edge offerings for both the commercial and FBO aviation segments. Currently in development is a project that remotely monitors the fuel truck and actively alerts the operator of maintenance issues, so that forecasted and preventative maintenance can be automatically tracked. “Whether through EMS or our other innovative offerings, we’re committed to furthering the refueling industry with top quality products that drive never-before-seen efficiencies,” Owen added.

About Rampmaster

Rampmaster is the premier manufacturer of aircraft refueling solutions, known in both the commercial and general aviation markets for its technical innovation, quality production standards and superior customer service. Since its founding in 1968, Rampmaster has consistently delivered unprecedented product advancements that benefit customers’ airport operations through longer refueler lifecycles, significant fuel and maintenance savings, lower EPA emissions and more.

Today, Rampmaster is global in scope, but remains an innovative and exceptional family-owned U.S. manufacturer, well known for re-investing capital to advance the refueling industry by way of thought leadership and quality craftsmanship.

About the West Virginia University Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions (CAFEE)

A non-profit research center operating within academic surroundings, West Virginia University’s Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions (CAFEE) is an internationally recognized research program in the area of vehicles, engines, emissions and alternative fuels. CAFEE is a large research center involving over 50 faculty, staff, and graduate students, which have been conducting research specifically focused on fuels, engines and exhaust emissions since 1990.

Since its inception, the Center has conducted hundreds of research projects with total funding of over $80 million. The projects were or currently are sponsored by fuel suppliers (BP, ARCO, Chevron, Biodiesel Board and others), engine manufacturers (Cummins, Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel and others), vehicle manufacturers (Ford, GM and others), Federal Government Agencies (DOE, DOT, EPA, DARPA and others) and State Agencies (California ARB, Arizona DEQ, NY DEQ, TCEQ and others). These projects have addressed issues associated with the full spectrum of fuel, engine and vehicle performance. Emissions are measured in accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR 40) requirements for engine certification, which is used primarily for fuels testing, certification and verification procedures for the states of California and Texas.

Source: Flex Fuel.com

Last week’s print edition of The Economist had a special feature which ran the gamut across the world of natural gas. Seven articles covered wide-ranging topics, from LNG to fracking to the various regional natural gas markets.

While I highly recommend taking a look at these articles, I appreciate it takes a while to get through them (plus there is a paywall limiting access to only 5 articles a week). So to help you wonderful folks out, I have done the hard work and have extracted some of the key points from these seven pieces, and put them into a bite-size format. I hope you enjoy!
Read more

Source: Flex Fuel.com

HARTFORD, Conn. — As natural gas competes with increasingly costly oil as a heating fuel, researchers are now looking at it to run the family car.

United Technologies Corp. is among 13 recipients of federal Energy Department funding to come up with a natural gas tank for cars.

“We have a reasonable abundance of natural gas,” said Craig Walker, director of the energy systems program at United Technologies Research Center in East Hartford. “How do we knock down the technical barriers?”

Natural gas is now used for commercial buses and trucks with larger tanks, and researchers want to apply the technology to cars.

The Energy Department says natural gas vehicle technologies require tanks that can withstand high pressure, are often cumbersome and are too large or too costly for smaller passenger vehicles.

The department awarded United Technologies and two partners a $4.4 million grant. Though it’s a small portion of the $2 billion the conglomerate spent on research and development last year, Walker called the funding “reasonably good-sized.” Following the three-year research program, United Technologies will develop a prototype tank for passenger cars.
Read more

Source: Environmental Leader.com

Sales of light-duty natural gas vehicles including passenger cars, light-duty trucks and commercial vehicles will reach 3.2 million vehicles in 2019, with 25.4 million such vehicles on the road in that year, Pike Research forecasts. This represents a compound average annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2 percent between 2012 and 2019.

In its report, Pike Research says light-duty vehicles make up about 97 percent of the total natural gas vehicle market, or 2.08 million out of 2.15 million vehicles, as of 2012. The report identifies four main growth drivers: economic benefits, environmental benefits, availability of fuel and vehicles, and energy security.

While North America is experiencing 10 percent CAGR, Pike Research says that because the market is small, it doesn’t expect growth to lead the continent to a dominant market spot by 2019. This market largely consists of fleet purchases, not individual consumers.

The largest market for natural gas vehicles is the Asia Pacific region, Pike Research says, because of growing refueling networks there. The strongest markets in this region will be Thailand (24 percent CAGR), India (23 percent) and China (20 percent), according to the report. Pakistan also has a large natural gas fleet, but it’s a volatile market, and smaller markets like Uzbekistan and Armenia will likely face market saturation by mid-decade, it says.

Analysts expect a two percent CAGR between 2012 and 2019 for the Middle East and Africa regions, because of volatility in the Iranian market. Egypt has a relatively strong light-duty vehicle market due to its taxi fleets, according to Pike Research.

The Latin American market will continue to grow. The report says Argentina and Brazil are two of the largest natural gas vehicle markets in the world — 25 percent of total natural gas vehicles globally. The other markets in this region have combines sales of less than 100,000 vehicles in 2012, but Pike Research forecasts about 10 percent CAGR each in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, and Venezuela over the next several years.

Europe’s largest light-duty natural gas vehicle market is Italy, where 2012 sales will reach 159,046 vehicles, Pike Research says. It’s followed by Ukraine, where analysts expect sales to reach 151,487 this year. Both countries will see slowed growth over the next few years, while Germany and Sweden — comparatively small markets today — will have steady growth, the report says.

A Pike Research report published last month said rising fuel prices and stronger fuel economy regulations will stimulate demand for clean diesel vehicles, pushing global sales from 9.1 million in 2012 to 12.1 million annually by 2018.

Source: Environmental Protection

Recently Nissan announced its “Leaf to Home” technology, which is a device that attaches to a Nissan Leaf electric automobile allowing power to move both to the car’s battery and from it. Now Nichicon Corporation is announcing that it has built a device in partnership with Nissan, called the “EV Power Station” that takes power from the “Leaf to Home” device and makes it available to the home’s power system. In addition, it also serves as a charger for the Leaf, reducing the time it takes to charge the car’s battery from eight hours to just four.

The idea the two companies said in a joint news release is to give customers more power options. Because prices for electricity vary depending on demand, it makes sense for homeowners to charge their vehicles battery when prices are lowest, typically at night. And because quite often cars are left sitting idly in the driveway or garage once its owner has arrived home for work, it would seem wasteful to not use the battery in it to supply power to the house during the time when electricity rates are typically at their highest. That’s what the two systems allow.

Initially the dual system technology will only be sold to customers in Japan, where electricity prices have begun to climb in the wake of a nationwide shutdown of nuclear power plants following the Fukushima plant disaster last year. Particularly noticeable is the huge difference in electricity costs during different time periods, leading many Japanese electronics companies to develop and sell devices that are capable of taking advantage of lower price times. The company also points out that due to the same electrical supply issues, residential customers have had to endure more blackouts and brownouts than they have in the past. The new system they say, could be a tremendous help in such situations as they say the Leaf when fully charged, is capable of supplying up to two full days of power to a house using a typical amount of electricity.

The cost for the new system, which is expected to be made available in dealer showrooms next month, will be 330,000 yen (about $4,100) after subsidies, though not mentioned in the news release is how much it might cost the typical buyer to hook the system into their existing home electrical system.