Green Fleet Conference Panel Debunks Alt-Fuel Misconceptions

Some myths and misconceptions about alternative fuels were debunked in a fun late-night talk show format Wednesday at the Green Fleet Conference in Schaumburg, Ill.

The conference, put on by Bobit Business Media publications including Heavy Duty Trucking andGreen Fleet magazine, runs through Thursday and covers alternative fuels and fleet efficiency for fleets of vehicles from passenger cars through heavy-duty Class 8 trucks.

Six Fuel Ambassadors took the stage with host Richard Battersby, manager of Equipment Services for the City of Oakland, Calif., and coordinator of the East Bay Clean Cities Coalition.

He asked several questions of the ambassadors, and turned to "man on the street" interviews that highlighted some of the misconceptions about alternative fuels, such as diesel being dirty and natural gas being dangerous. It soon became obvious that each "interview" was the same person, in a variety of guises (including two females) in a nod to the event's nearness to Halloween.Battersby pointed out that there is a "dizzying choice" available today in fuels: CNG, LNG, RNG, DME, E85, hydrogen, battery electric, plug-in electric, biodiesel, renewable diesel, algae diesel, clean diesel – "And of course we've got dilithium crystals and the flux capacitor drive."

Some of the highlights of the responses from each Fuel Ambassador:

Greg Zilberfarb, consultant with the Propane Education and Research Council

PERC gets a fraction of each propane purchase to help develop new uses for propane. He pointed out that propane comes out of the ground alongside natural gas. "You can just say 'and propane' whenever you're talking about the abundance of domestic natural gas," he said. The school bus industry has been "a real sweet spot" for this fuel.

In response to a "man on the street" contention that propane stations are expensive to put in, he said, "You could put in a propane facility for less money than any other fuels including gasoline or diesel."

Read more here.