Well, we have a highway bill proposal. The House of Representative’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is set to mark up a bill, said to be $260 billion over five years, today. But, like anything in Washington, the bill has little chance of passing. And once again, it will be because our lawmakers know not how to get American cruising down the highway, but rather only how to put up roadblocks.

In addition to differences that must be smoothed over with what the Senate will likely put forth, chief among those being that the current Senate proposal would provide $109 billion over two years, the House version will likely include a controversial oil pipeline project – the Canada to Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline - already rejected by President Barack Obama earlier this year. more

It’s time to skip the highway and hit the city streets.

OK, maybe it’s not that simple. But according to research from the University of Buffalo, driving along surface streets rather than along highways could potentially reduce carbon monoxide emissions. The research, led by UB researchers Adel Sadek and Liya Guo, is part of a larger project the duo is undertaking evaluating the likely environmental benefits of green routing in the region.

According to computer simulations of traffic in Buffalo, NY,’s Niagara region, so-called “green routing” could reduce emissions of carbon monoxide by 27% for area drivers, while increasing the length of trips by an average of just 11%. more

One of the concerns about electric vehicles is the range. That is certainly true of the most popular commercial vehicle to date – the Newton, from Smith Electric Vehicles, which has an effective range of 100 mi. on a single charge.

But what if range was not part of equation? Certainly electric vehicles provide many benefits over their gas and diesel counterparts – fewer emissions and quieter to name just two. But with a limited range, the market for such vehicles is restricted to routes such as pickup and delivery where the vehicle returns to a fixed charging station each night.

Federal Express and UPS have been deploying the vehicles in city environments with great success. Many other companies are as well. But the market for electric vehicles could mushroom if only there was a way to charge a vehicle en route. more

Emerald Technology Partners is preparing to test a new refrigeration system that it says will eliminate the use of fossil fuels and still maintain a cool operating environment for refrigerated loads.

The Wedway Refrigeration Power System does this through kinetic energy. For all of us who remember learning about kinetic energy in school but never thought there would be a need to use it again, kinetic energy is the energy that is stored in an object while it is motion. That energy remains constant until the velocity of the object is changed. more

During a press event announcing that Smith Electric Vehicles will be building a manufacturing plant in the South Bronx to produce the all-electric Newton, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also made plenty of alternative-powered supporters smile with another announced.

New York State will make $10 million available next year as part of a five-year incentive program to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles. The federally funded electric vehicle buyer incentive program will be funded by the through federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funding. It will be administered by the New York State Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). more

A new research and development agreement in California could turn the Los Angeles area into the first commercial market for dimethyl ether (DME) as a transportation fuel.

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and Oberon Fuels, a low-emissions alternative fuels company, will jointly work on research and development of the first commercial DME facility in the U.S. The facility will be located in Southern California and will produce DME, which when combusted in an optimized engine can produce a clean fuel. more

With the announcement today that cars and light trucks will be expected to achieve an average Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) of 54.5 mpg by 2025, the impact will be felt in many ways.

Yes, it will lessen our dependence on foreign oil. Yes, it will help clean up the environment, especially as more automakers build hybrid and electric vehicles in response. Yes, drivers will ultimately use less fuel, which means fewer dollars spent at the pump for consumers. But that comes at a price - a price that needs to be addressed.

If less fuel is purchased, that means fewer dollars in gas taxes will be collected. The impact, of course, is that with fewer taxes collected, there will be fewer dollars available for infrastructure maintenance and improvements. That is a little publicized problem that needs to be addressed as mpg improves. Currently, CAFE requires all vehicles sold to average 27.3 mpg; that will rise to 34.1 by 2017, and then increase 5% per year through 2025. With all the fuel sold and taxes collected now at the 27.3 standard, we still can’t find a way to adequately fund our infrastructure projects. If we could, we’d already have a multi-year highway reauthorization bill. more

Texas Gov. Rick Perry joined Peterbilt Motors Co. executives at Peterbilt’s Denton, TX, plant for a bill-signing ceremony where Perry put his signature to a bill that will expand the natural gas infrastructure in the state of Texas.

Senate Bill 20 establishes a natural gas transportation corridor in the rapidly expanding Texas Triangle, which encompasses Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The bill will increase the number of natural gas refueling station to support the use of natural gas powered trucks. more

McDonald’s is planning to convert its entire 80-plus truck fleet in the United Arab Emirates to run on 100% biodiesel, it said.

The fast-food giant, in cooperation with Neutral Fuels, will be using its own used vegetable oil as the base stock for the fuel. more

Since port truck replacement programs are in the news this week, it seems fitting that one program, along the Mid-Atlantic region, is forming.

Four states (Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania) have joined forces with the University of Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association (MARAMA) to create a new program designed to assist truck operators working in drayage operations in replacing their older trucks.

“We no longer want our ports to be the place where old trucks go to die,” says Joanne Throwe, the director of the University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center, which is coordinating the new effort. “It’s not just the air around the port that suffers – it’s the routes the trucks follow throughout the region.” more