Michigan state fleet efficiency

From Great Lakes Wiki

Driving the Green Mile?

How Michigan's Green Fleet is Running on Empty

By Alec Marsy & Anusuya Das

The year 2007 saw Michigan's state owned vehicles release more than 100 million pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This number is down some 200 million pounds since 2006, which could be attributed to the addition of cleaner, alternative fuel burning vehicles. Known as flex-fuel cars, these vehicles cut down the states dependence on fossil fuel.

The improvements seen from 2007 are a profound beginning, but certainly not the end. While the Michigan government has been making progress in reducing its carbon emissions, most of the goals set by the state have missed the target.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm released a report in 2007, which outlined a plan to integrate more alternative fuel vehicles into the state fleet, but very little of that is aimed at hybrid, or battery cell vehicles. Currently, the state owns a total of 11,856 vehicles, which includes both on- and off-road vehicles.

Of this total, the state owns 18 hybrid vehicles, which are used by the state of Michigan, but not included in the portion of the fleet able to be used by state employees. While flex-fuel vehicles may address the need to be environmentally friendly, in many ways, they don't address the financial limitations of the state.

Vehicle and Transport Service Center in Lansing, Courtesy of the Department of Management and Budget.

In early 2006, Granholm set a goal for 1,000 bio-fuel pumps to be made available by 2008 in her State of the State Address. A report released by the Michigan Department of Agriculture on Oct. 21 of this year, states that Michigan has a total of 233 bio-diesel pumps and 117 ethanol E85 pumps.

The alternative fuels available today include E-85 ethanol, a mixture of 85 percent ethanol fuel and 15 percent gasoline, and B-20 bio-diesel, a similar mixture of 80 percent gasoline, 20 percent ethanol.

While gas prices have dropped in recent months, the price of E85 has remained steady. H&H Mobile in East Lansing.

Flex-fueling stations in Michigan are few and far between; almost all are located in the southern quarter of the state, leaving only a scattered handful available in the northern three quarters of the state.

"The majority of our vehicles can burn unleaded as well as ethanol fuel," said Marietta Cook, vehicle coordinator for the state of Michigan. "Most of the time vehicles in the northern part of the state use unleaded petrol, just because of the fueling infrastructure. It's just not there."

According to Cook, state employees use alternative fuels when they have access to refueling stations. The consequence of having so few stations that have E-85 or B-20 pumps is that employees don't use ethanol in their every day activities; they use unleaded gasoline.

Two years ago, the state government issued a seven-bill package designed to fuel the growth of the state's alternative energy industry. The package gives grants to service station owners who renovate or expand their existing stations to make E-85 and bio-diesel available. "[The state does] have a program, but the incentive is very little. We installed the flex-fuel station because we thought it's the right thing to do,” said Cheryl Little, owner of H&H Mobil in East Lansing.

Exactly how much does it cost to install a bio-fuel station? "Anywhere from $75, 000 to $80, 000", Little said. In Lansing, there are a total of three bio-fuel stations, of which just one is dedicated to state vehicles and is not open to the public. With little incentive to set up bio-fuel stations, the result is too few flex-fueling stations that leave flex-fuel vehicle owners high and dry.

H&H Mobile has taken steps to increase the use and awareness of alternative fuels.

Lindsay Brooke, senior editor of the Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) International Magazine said, “Flex-fuel vehicles, especially those dedicated to E-85, have been to a rocky start due to lack of availability of ethanol. Plenty of flex-fuel automobiles have been produced, but with flex-fueling stations not located nearby, most flex-fuel car owners fill up gasoline instead of driving those extra miles. Vehicle industry needs an infrastructure to survive.”

Even with the changes, a recent study by the American Council Energy-Efficient Economy, an energy efficiency watchdog organization, ranked Michigan 38th in the country in energy efficiency. Of the Great Lakes States, Michigan tied for last with Indiana. Michigan didn’t even manage to score in automotive efficiency. The scores were based on the number and usage of fuel-efficient vehicles and EPA rating standards.

Those 100 million pounds of carbon dioxide, while slowly being reduced, will still hover over the state like an ominous cloud for years. "The probability of a catastrophic environmental event, such as a hurricane, tornado, or forest fire, increases with every additional pound of carbon dioxide that human beings emit," said Jiaguo Qi, a carbon emissions expert at the Center for Global Change at Michigan State University.

The Energy Information Administration reported that carbon dioxide accounts for more than 80 percent of greenhouse gases in the country. Vehicles that run on fossil fuel-based gasoline and diesel are the major polluters. Heavy-duty trucks account for 18 percent of that total. The state of Michigan owns 1423 heavy-duty trucks in its fleet, which run on biodiesel.

The Department of Natural Resources maintains the most cars within its own fleet—3,262. The State Police with 1,845 takes the second spot, closely followed by the Department of Transportation with 1,872 vehicles. Within its fleet, the DNR has a total of 32 heavy-duty trucks that weigh more than 33,000 pounds. These vehicles produce 22.2 pounds of carbon dioxide for every gallon of fuel they burn, the worst polluters in the fleet.

Are the state employees singing Granholm’s tune and driving the green mile? "Most often they [state agencies] request cars with the most seating capacity", says David Ancell of the vehicle & travel services, Department of Management and Budget, state of Michigan.

The state added ten Ford Escape hybrids to its fleet last year, and maintains Federal Energy Policy Act mandates. This requires 85 percent of state fleet vehicles in Metropolitan Statistical Areas, densely populated urban areas, to be those that can operate on alternative fuels.

So, in trying to devise ways to cut down its carbon emissions, and ambitiously marching toward a green future, the state of Michigan has made changes. Only time will tell whether those changes have really been enough, and questions loom in the future as to what the true solution to our carbon crisis might be.

To find alternative fueling stations around the Lansing area, click here.

To find alternative fueling stations wherever you are, click here

Go back to the State of Michigan's Energy Efficiency