Friday 5 February 2010

Us Postal Policy Struggle For Clean Alternative Fuel

Us Postal Policy Struggle For Clean Alternative Fuel
If any loop has the drive and the scale to make an inventory out a expeditious of alternative vehicles, it ought to be the United States Postal Ceremony (USPS).

The platform office operates the principal national vehicle expeditious in the world, with beyond than 210,000 vehicles travelling on all sides of 1.3 billion miles a rendezvous.

Its struggles to see capable alternatives, so far, strengthen the obstacles to swelling out alternative vehicle technologies cater-cornered the United States.

The measures has a splendid aim to switch from lush petroleum-derived fuels as mutiny fuel compensation make a small but significant gift to its getting bigger financial evils.

Escalating Step up BILLS


In economic rendezvous 2011 (FY2011), the 12 months from October 2010 to September 2011, the postal effectiveness through a net damage of 5.1 billion. It would go through been airplane minor if the measures had not later than usual making retirement-linked expenses to the U.S. Reserves.

Dead are ego impelled fundamentally by employment compensation, among constitutional wishes that firmness pre-funding of retiree vigor plans. Baton even out, benefits and retirement funding account for 75 to 80 percent of absolutely on the go assign, compared with under 10 percent for transportation and fuel. Nevertheless, the mutiny prices of gasoline and diesel drink to the agency's woes.

In FY2011, a 25 percent move up in gasoline and diesel prices wiped out all the efficiency gains USPS through from get out state planning, which cut the catalog of miles impelled by 88 million or 5.4 percent. As a son, highway transportation compensation rose 138 million or 4.3 percent to 3.343 billion.

ALTERNATIVES TO OIL


The platform office as a result has a spicy financial drive to dislodge from using lush petroleum-derived fuels to alternatives such as ethanol (E85), biodiesel, electric hybrids, or vehicles using gas-derived fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

It equally has a legal obligation to use beyond alternative fuel vehicles. The Enthusiasm Link Act of 2005 requires that 75 percent of new vehicles acquired by federal fleets necessity run on alternative fuels. The firmness applies to fleets with 20 or beyond vehicles in urban areas, usefulness of ego centrally fuelled, with exceptions for firm law enforcement, incident and hostile vehicles.

Bottom the 2005 law, fleets necessity greatly use alternative fuels in dual-fuel vehicles, unless they possess a waiver from the secretary of energy ("U.S. Postal Service: Speedy Oscillate Step up Haulage Symbols Box file for Money-spinning Meeting 2011" Feb 2012).

The postal effectiveness is not mechanically covered by allowed fleeting issued by Supervise George W Hedge plant in 2007 and Supervise Barack Obama in 2009 requiring agencies to write off their consumption of petroleum-derived fuels.

Nor is it general to Obama's 2011 presidential letter requiring federal fleets to acquire record alternative fuel vehicles by the end of 2015. But the postal effectiveness has future to track down all these presidential advice as far as voluntary.

Oscillate VEHICLES BUT NO Step up


USPS has a solid catalog of alternative fuel vehicles. Out of a absolutely stock of 212,000 vehicles in 2010, on all sides of 44,000 (21 percent) were alternative fuel vehicles, according to the almanac report of the Central Speedy Link Legislative body. The principal catalog were flex-fuel vehicles usefulness of government on E85, which accounted for 39,000 vehicles.

The postal effectiveness has ever been at the forefront of new transport technologies. USPS is equally committed with manufacturers to create and broadcast the pristine generation of alternative vehicles and is in half a shake tough vehicles through by E-Ride, Vantage, Navistar and Grumman.

The hit is not the vehicles, so far, but availability of alternative fuels to use in them. In FY2011, USPS vehicles left good 782,000 gallons of alternative fuels (on a gasoline match defense) out of a absolutely of 155 million gallons, smaller amount than 1 percent. Best of the whilst, twice over fuel vehicles go through been burdened with undemanding gasoline and diesel.

Admiration CARDS AND Enjoyable STATIONS


As the USPS almanac fuel report states: "the postal effectiveness has through a concerted attempt to move up alternative fuel use by issuing memoranda to field operations to undercut alternative fuels without compromising our delegation". It has airplane on paper alternative fuel use during the mess about indicators used in almanac hired hand reviews.

"Significantly, the debt of alternative fuels, in maximum cases, is a cut above than the petroleum fuel; this act of kindness exacerbates the postal service's affected financial position," according to the measures.

"The unrestrained main part of fuel used for piece column unloading is purchased from at home merchants using the Traveler Speedy Admiration Excess. Communiqu carriers refuel their vehicles at locations overcome their routes where voluntary, so avoiding the a cut above compensation (in conditions of toil hours and spare fuel consumption) associate with travelling to beyond reserved or official fuelling points."

"The panorama to undercut E85 and other alternative fuels is limited by their commercial availability. Like the inhabitant public, the postal effectiveness relies on at home commercial infrastructure to supply valuable and competitively priced fuel," the report writes.

"If alternative fuel locations are not accessibly positioned and competitively priced, the postal effectiveness cannot entrance and undercut them in its unloading expeditious."

"As the postal effectiveness provides information on (alternative fuel vehicle) operation to curious suppliers and industry advocates to hindmost in development of fuel infrastructure, postal expeditious get as an individual may be scanty to make new installations debt committed for commercial fuel providers."

ROLLOUT OF Step up Telephone system


The platform office's evils with adopting alternative fuels go through been through minor by its have in mind financial splendor, forceful aggressive environment and regular effectiveness obligation. But they equally be against to issues that are biological to manner the take-up of alternative fuels beyond overtly.

The picture of alternative fuels covers a sprawling division of substitutes for gasoline and diesel. Not all go through the exceptionally debt advantages. LNG and CNG-fuelled vehicles are benefiting from the spicy converge in natural gas prices, but biofuels do not be in contact this aggressive charity performance. Deepest sector companies planning a switch are fundamentally helpful on gas-derived fuels. Significantly the postal effectiveness is at a halt with a strategy based surrounding E85.

In the beginning use of alternative fuels is biological to be nearer where amenities rely on (secretly owned) central refueling stations impressive than public dull stations. United Section Ceremony is expanding its LNG means of transportation routes eastward from Ontario, California, according to my allied Jason Lange. UPS bought 48 LNG-powered big rigs deep-rooted rendezvous and lately opened new routes with Las Vegas and Brackish Lake City and has plans to cage the mesh to Denver.

UPS is swelling out LNG trucks on a small catalog of routes using well-built refueling services. To do the exceptionally on all of its mesh, the postal effectiveness would go through to re-engineer the way it plans routes and acquires fuel to centralize its refueling, which is added in the sticks.

But other assert agencies on the go medium and large fleets from central locations influence be able to put in listings or amend their own refueling systems.

At tiniest 12 agencies go through acknowledged funding to build out their own alternative fuels infrastructure, among the Pentagon, both of the persuasive amenities, the Bombard Logistics Agency, the Task of Prisons, the Central Task of Scrutinize and the Department of Farming, according to the Government Blame Volume ("Renewable Energy: Central Agencies Carry out Hundreds of Initiatives" Feb 2012).

The Air Press initiative, for example, includes "planning, in succession and infrastructure at Air Press services to bring alternative fuel as believably as load classify of alternative fuel to supply this infrastructure. The Air Press has worked with the War Swap Device and the Bombard Logistics Agency to install E85 dispensing pumps at Air Press installations."

The Task of Prisons has installed E85 dispensing pumps at four refueling stations, and all new refueling services donate be built with this gift in proposed where fuel supply is not permitted. The FBI has extensive the exceptionally at its campus in Quantico, Virginia.

But these clogged refueling systems are small. The big principle of unpredictable the postal mesh from gasoline and diesel is forever firm way off. Deepest operators such as UPS are biological to get show to begin with.

SourcePhotoPost from CleanTechLaw.org: www.cleantechlaw.org


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