The Department of Environmental Protection this week announced the award of more than $3 million in Alternative Fuel Incentive Grants.

The grants will leverage more than $40 million in private funds for the production of almost 64 million gallons of clean-burning biodiesel annually, as well as for the installation of storage tanks needed to distribute and sell biofuels.

The City of Pittsburgh received a $303,675 grant to cover the incremental cost of almost 1.2 million gallons of biodiesel and to provide biodiesel storage tanks at city refueling sites. In addition Heinz Field will provide much of the waste vegetable oil that will be used to produce the biodiesel fuel for the city.

The Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities’ E85 Corridor Project received a $75,000 grant. The project will convert at least 12 fueling stations to provide E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, along a 200-mile corridor stretching from central Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia suburbs. The project previously received $283,380 in federal funding.

The Pennsylvania E85 Corridor Project is the effort of private and public sector organizations working together to reduce petroleum use in the transportation sector and provide the fueling needs of flexible-fuel vehicles (FFVs) throughout Pennsylvania.

There are approximately 160,000 FFVs operating in Pennsylvania already and the major automakers are offering numerous models of FFVs at no extra cost compared to similar gasoline-only units. Flexible-fuel vehicles are capable of using gasoline or ethanol blends.

Since its inception in 1992, DEP has awarded almost $32 million through AFIG for 999 projects in almost every county in the commonwealth. DEP has also awarded more than $2.5 million since March 2005 to individuals who purchased hybrid electric vehicles. AFIG funds have leveraged more than $118 million from public and private fleet operators, fuel providers and the federal government.

A complete list of grants awarded is available online.

NewsClip: Heinz Field to Fuel Pittsburgh Fleet

12/8/2006