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Clean Cities: A Model of Collaborative Technology Innovation Built Over 30 Years
4/19/2023
The Clean Cities Coalition Network is an example of successful government-sponsored efforts to address challenges and facilitate collaborative governance across sectors and levels of government within the transportation sector. In 1993, under what is now the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) established Clean Cities in response to a requirement in the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992 to implement voluntary alternative fuel deployment activities.1 VTO’s Technology Integration Program is responsible for the Clean Cities Coalition Network and many other activities. DOE created a collaborative governance effort that has translated higher-level policy goals into multiple local collaborative practices for more than 30 years.
Authors: Romero-Lankao, P.; Rosner, N.; Reichelt, L.; Allerhand, J.
Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, January 2023
3/20/2023
The Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report for January 2023 is a quarterly report on the prices of alternative fuels in the U.S. and their relation to gasoline and diesel prices. This issue describes prices that were gathered from Clean Cities coordinators and stakeholders between January 1, 2023 and January 15, 2023, and then averaged in order to determine regional price trends by fuel and variability in fuel price within regions and among regions. The prices collected for this report represent retail, at-the-pump sales prices for each fuel, including Federal and state motor fuel taxes.
Table 2 reports that the nationwide average price (all amounts are per gallon) for regular gasoline has decreased 74 cents from $4.05 to $3.31; diesel decreased 59 cents from $5.17 to $4.58; CNG increased 37 cents from $2.88 to $3.25; ethanol (E85) decreased 41 cents from $3.18 to $2.77; propane increased 11 cents from $3.55 to $3.65; and biodiesel (B20) decreased 43 cents from $4.89 to $4.46.
According to Table 3, CNG is 6 cents less than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis and E85 is 29 cents more than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis.
Authors: Bourbon, E.
Bioenergy Technology Office Multi-Year Program Plan
3/1/2023
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) works alongside national laboratories, universities, and private industry partners to advance clean energy technologies sourced from renewable carbon resources. This Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) establishes BETO’s missions and goals, while also identifying strategic approaches to the Office’s research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) plans. Included in these plans are initiatives to decarbonize multiple sectors of the U.S. economy, de-risk relevant technologies, create jobs and economic opportunities, and increase participation in the continued development and use of clean energy technologies. This MYPP is at once an internal, operational guide, as well as a resource to communicate BETO’s mission and goals to stakeholders and to the public.
Clean Cities Coalitions 2021 Activity Report
1/24/2023
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) works with local Clean Cities coalitions across the country as part of its Technology Integration Program. These efforts help businesses and consumers make smarter and more informed transportation energy choices that can save energy, lower costs, provide resilience through fuel diversification, and reduce air emissions. This report summarizes the success and impact of coalition activities based on data and information provided in their annual progress reports.
Authors: Singer, M.; Johnson, C.; Wilson, A.
E85 Fueling Infrastructure Trends: A Decade in Review
1/12/2023
This report provides information on ethanol fueling infrastructure and industry trends over the last 10 years. It is informed primarily by ethanol fueling station location data collected through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) Station Locator from 2011 through 2021 (AFDC 2021a). Industry stakeholders, including the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy, also provided data and additional context around trends seen in the data.
Authors: Brown, A.; Erickson, H.; White, E.
Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, October 2022
1/11/2023
The Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report for October 2022 is a quarterly report on the prices of alternative fuels in the U.S. and their relation to gasoline and diesel prices. This issue describes prices that were gathered from Clean Cities coordinators and stakeholders between October 1, 2022 and October 15, 2022, and then averaged in order to determine regional price trends by fuel and variability in fuel price within regions and among regions. The prices collected for this report represent retail, at-the-pump sales prices for each fuel, including Federal and state motor fuel taxes.
Table 2 reports that the nationwide average price (all amounts are per gallon) for regular gasoline has decreased 65 cents from $4.70 to $4.05; diesel decreased 47 cents from $5.64 to $5.17; CNG increased 12 cents from $2.76 to $2.88; ethanol (E85) decreased 75 cents from $3.93 to $3.18; propane decreased 24 cents from $3.79 to $3.55; and biodiesel (B20) decreased 45 cents from $5.34 to $4.89.
According to Table 3, CNG is $1.17 less than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis and E85 is 8 cents more than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis.
Authors: Bourbon, E.
Ready Set Go! 2023 Ethanol Outlook
1/1/2023
While the U.S. economy experienced turbulence in 2022, the ethanol industry’s financial performance was strong and biorefineries continued to stimulate crucial economic activity in communities across the country. Consumer price inflation was the highest in decades, spurred in part by record gasoline prices that put a damper on fuel demand. However, the ethanol content of gasoline (i.e., the ethanol “blend rate”) continued to increase due to its cost-competitiveness and the expanded availability of E15 and flex fuels. And, as international markets also faced high fuel prices and tight supplies, ethanol exports rose sharply. As a result, ethanol production increased to more than 15.4 billion gallons and has now almost rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. This report looks at the state of the ethanol industry in 2022 and focus areas for 2023.
NREL Fleet Analysis Support Through Technology Integration Collaboration
11/7/2022
This study leveraged the partnership between the United States Department of Energy's (DOE) Clean Cities Coalition Network and the Association for the Work Truck Industry (NTEA) to launch a vehicle and fleet analysis project that assisted fleets in identifying opportunities to save energy, improve efficiency, reduce costs, and meet environmental goals via short term data logging and analysis. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) sought to establish a process that included initial data acquisition, provided data storage, and developed analytic methods to inform fleets of areas of opportunity based on approximately 30 days of in use vehicle performance data. However, long-term the project will require ongoing funding to fully develop and maintain the data sharing platform and to produce more complex analysis.
Authors: Lynch, L.; Payne, G.
Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, July 2022
10/13/2022
The Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report for July 2022 is a quarterly report on the prices of alternative fuels in the U.S. and their relation to gasoline and diesel prices. This issue describes prices that were gathered from Clean Cities coordinators and stakeholders between July 1, 2022 and July 15, 2022, and then averaged in order to determine regional price trends by fuel and variability in fuel price within regions and among regions. The prices collected for this report represent retail, at-the-pump sales prices for each fuel, including Federal and state motor fuel taxes.
Table 2 reports that the nationwide average price (all amounts are per gallon) for regular gasoline has increased 57 cents from $4.13 to $4.70; diesel increased 58 cents from $5.06 to $5.64; CNG increased 17 cents from $2.59 to $2.76; ethanol (E85) increased 39 cents from $3.54 to $3.93; propane increased 26 cents from $3.53 to $3.79; and biodiesel (B20) increased 72 cents from $4.62 to $5.34.
According to Table 3, CNG is $1.94 less than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis and E85 is 40 cents more than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis.
Authors: Bourbon, E.
Techno-Economic, Feasibility, and Life Cycle Analysis of Renewable Propane: Final Report
10/1/2022
The Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) has engaged with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop information that is critical to understanding the current and future landscape for renewable propane (RP) and the value proposition for recovery of RP from existing and planned HEFA biorefineries. In summary the following outcomes are identified from this study: (1) production of incremental RP by increasing the severity of the hydroisomerization step is insignificant to the overall propane yield from a HEFA biorefinery, however production of renewable butane (or LPG2) is quite significant thus suggesting alternate strategies for valorizing these fractions; (2) the value proposition for recovering RP and renewable LPG is quite strong, with capital recovery payback periods of 14 months for a small biorefinery producing 3.5 million gallons per year RP to as short as 2 months for a large biorefinery producing 87 million gallons per year RP. Paybacks for renewable LPG are as much as 50% shorter; and (3) current and projected expansions of renewable diesel will greatly expand the potential availability of RP as a by-product. Several promising new pathways are under development but will not significantly increase production of RP for the next decade.
Authors: Robert M. Baldwin, Mark R. Nimlos, and Yimin Zhang
Ethanol Blends: Providing a Renewable Fuel Choice
8/10/2022
More than 21 million vehicles on U.S. roads are flexible-fuel vehicles (FFVs). These vehicles can operate on either gasoline or blends of gasoline and ethanol up to E85 (a gasoline-ethanol blend containing 51% to 83% ethanol). As a renewable fuel, ethanol offers significant advantages. It is produced predominantly in the United States, made from home-grown feedstocks, and burns cleaner than gasoline.
Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, April 2022
6/28/2022
The Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report for April 2022 is a quarterly report on the prices of alternative fuels in the U.S. and their relation to gasoline and diesel prices. This issue describes prices that were gathered from Clean Cities coordinators and stakeholders between April 1, 2022 and April 15, 2022, and then averaged in order to determine regional price trends by fuel and variability in fuel price within regions and among regions. The prices collected for this report represent retail, at-the-pump sales prices for each fuel, including Federal and state motor fuel taxes.
Table 2 reports that the nationwide average price (all amounts are per gallon) for regular gasoline has increased 85 cents from $3.28 to $4.13; diesel increased by $1.44 from $3.62 to $5.06; CNG increased 10 cents from $2.49 to $2.59; ethanol (E85) increased 57 cents from $2.97 to $3.54; propane increased 11 cents from $3.42 to $3.53; and biodiesel (B20) increased by $1.20 from $3.42 to $4.62.
According to Table 3, CNG is $1.54 less than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis and E85 is 47 cents more than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis.
Authors: Bourbon, E.
Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report, January 2022
5/10/2022
The Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Price Report for January 2022 is a quarterly report on the prices of alternative fuels in the U.S. and their relation to gasoline and diesel prices. This issue describes prices that were gathered from Clean Cities coordinators and stakeholders between January 1, 2022 and January 15, 2022, and then averaged in order to determine regional price trends by fuel and variability in fuel price within regions and among regions. The prices collected for this report represent retail, at-the-pump sales prices for each fuel, including Federal and state motor fuel taxes.
Table 2 reports that the nationwide average price (all amounts are per gallon) for regular gasoline has increased 3 cents from $3.25 to $3.28; diesel increased 14 cents from $3.48 to $3.62; CNG increased 16 cents from $2.33 to $2.49; ethanol (E85) increased 24 cents from $2.73 to $2.97; propane increased 25 cents from $3.17 to $3.42; and biodiesel (B20) increased 13 cents from $3.29 to $3.42.
According to Table 3, CNG is 79 cents less than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis and E85 is 59 cents more than gasoline on an energy-equivalent basis.
Authors: Bourbon, E.
