CleanFuel USA and Roush Performance, with support from Propane Education & Research Council, on Monday, April 12, showcased propane-fueled vehicles that cut carbon and particulate emissions at the 2010 BevOps Beverage Fleet Summit in Tampa, Fla. The event, hosted by Beverage World magazine and sponsored by PERC, offered fleet and transportation managers the chance to test-drive the newest propane-fueled vehicles on the market, including a General Motors G-4500 cutaway van and a Ford E-250 cargo van, each equipped with a liquid propane injection system. Propane is a domestically abundant clean-burning fuel that is suited for fleet transportation markets.
“Fleet managers are seeing an increase in demand from their customers for green fleets,” says Roy Willis, president and chief executive officer of PERC. “Test-driving the propane-fueled vehicles shows fleet and transportation managers how well the vehicles perform while running on a fuel that can help them reduce carbon emissions and fuel costs immediately.”
On average, propane fleet vehicles reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 13 to 25 percent, depending on application, and create 20 percent less nitrogen oxide, up to 60 percent less carbon monoxide and fewer particulate emissions compared with gasoline.
According to Willis, propane is already the most widely used alternative fuel on roads today in the United States, powering 270,000 vehicles. Worldwide, 14 million vehicles run on propane. “Propane-fueled fleet vehicles deliver a comparable performance to their conventional-fueled counterparts,” Willis says. “Propane-fueled vehicles not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately but also reduce operating costs by 5 to 30 percent, making propane the most viable, affordable and available alternative fuel.”
