State releases alternative fuel and emergency plans report

A trio of government agencies have released a report in support of Gov. Gary Herbert’s declaration of November as Alternative Fuel Awareness Month and “Utah’s Energy Action Plan to 2020.” “Alternative Fuel Vehicle and Emergency Plans: A Planning and Policy Report for Utah” has been released by the Governor’s Office of Energy Development (OED), Utah Clean Cities (UCC) and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO).{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

The report examines how alternative fuel vehicles can bolster Utah’s resilience and be leveraged as an emergency response resource in the event of a disruption to the state’s transportation fuels sector. Currently, 46 alternative fuel fleets exist across Utah with more than 6,400 light and heavy-duty vehicles operating on natural gas, propane, biodiesel, ethanol, electricity or hybrid fuels.

“We are proud to become one of the first models nationally for strategic energy emergency planning across the transportation sector by collaborating on this critical report and other educational and informative tools,” said Laura Nelson, the governor’s energy advisor and executive director of the Governor’s Office of Energy Development. “By strengthening our partnerships, technologies and infrastructure, Utah will continue to be well-positioned to meet the demands of the future through its continued emphasis on delivering fuel diversity across the public and private sector.”

To help emergency planning entities understand the various AFV and infrastructure assets at their disposal, NASEO used information maintained by the Alternative Fuels Data Center, Clean Cities Coalitions and other disaster readiness tools, to develop an online Alternative Fuel Vehicle and Infrastructure Tracking Tool. This tool provides the locations for 249 public and 48 private alternative fuel stations throughout Utah, with many clustered near population centers. It also identifies dispensing facilities for CNG, LNG, propane, E-85 ethanol, B-20 biodiesel and electricity.

The report offers nine key recommendations to strengthen Utah’s resilience and better leverage alternative fuels by driving greater collaboration, education and adoption among public and private entities. It also calls for modified language to the Utah Energy Emergency Plan to allow for fuller inclusion of alternative fuels and vehicles in its overarching strategy.

“Utah’s state emergency operations and energy plan will increase resiliency in our transportation sector through all-fuels inclusivity across the state of Utah,” said Tammie Bostick, UCC executive director. “It is a prime example of the Utah way of working together to address complex problems such as emergency response during severe weather events and other climate-driven episodes like fires, floods, drought and seismic activity. We are committed to diversifying the two-fuel-only model of traditional gas and diesel.  We are doing this by working on the front lines to ensure preparedness response modeling with Utah’s public and private fleets. This commitment ensures Utah has the most advanced transportation options that are currently available and consistently deployed in both our urban and rural communities.”{/mprestriction}