NCDOT ALTERNATIVE FUELS PROGRAM by Drew Harbinson, Director NCDOT Equipment & Inventory Contact: Phone 919-733-222

1. NCDOT ALTERNATIVE FUELS PROGRAMbyDrew Harbinson, DirectorNCDOT Equipment & InventoryContact: Phone 919-733-2220E-mail dharbinson@dot.state.nc.us

2. OVERVIEW • FLEET SIZE AND COMPOSITION • TYPES OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS TESTED • WHERE WE SEE THE FUTURE: SHORT AND LONG TERM

3. FLEET SIZE AND COMPOSITION • 28,671 Total Light & Heavy Pieces of Construction Equipment • 11,942 “On & Off Road” Pieces 71 E-85 Units 7,075 Diesel/Bio-diesel Units 12 Natural Gas Units 234 Propane Units 4,550 Unleaded Gasoline

4. TYPES OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS TESTED • METHANOL • Experimented with Methanol in the early 1980s. • Price was expensive and supply unreliable. • Required use of special lubricants to prevent engine damage. • Experienced reduced performance.

5. TYPES OF FUELS CONT’D • Electric Powered S-10 Pickups • Tried in the early 1990s. • First generation technology. • Short operational range of approximately 75miles. • Performed poorly.

6. TYPES OF FUELS CONT’D • Propane • First used for on road equipment in 1995. • Bi-fuel trucks cost approximately $6,000 each more than standard trucks. • Dispensing System cost approximately $25,000 each • Currently have 7 refueling sites statewide. • Fuel availability and cost fluctuates. • Currently have 234 F-150 units in the fleet. Ford has now stopped manufacturing bi-fuel propane units.

7. TYPES OF FUELS CONT’D • Compressed Natural Gas • First used in 1996. • Additional unit cost comparable to propane units. Approximately $6,000 - $8,000 more. • Dispensing System costs approximately $250,000 per site. Currently operating one cascading fast fill site. • Performance of units have been satisfactory. Currently have 12 units in the fleet.

8. TYPES OF FUELS CONT’D • Ethanol • E-85 Blend • Began using in 1999. Mainly used by the automobile fleet managed by our Department of Administration. • Four sites were built in the Raleigh area at a cost of approximately $45,000 each. • No additional cost in vehicles. • As long as fuel is turned over within approximately 3 months relatively few problems. • Performance is satisfactory.

9. TYPES OF FUELS CONT’D • Ethanol • E-10 Blend • Began use in 2004. • No additional cost for units. • No additional cost for dispensing system. Works in current gasoline dispensing system. • Will expand use this year significantly to meet requirements to reduce consumption of foreign oil products by 20% by 2010 mandated by our Legislature.

10. TYPES OF FUELS CONT’D • Bio-diesel • B20 Blend • Primary focus of Alternative Fuels Program. • Since 2003, NCDOT used 5,177,864 gallons of B20. Projected to use 2,500,000 gallons this year. • Dispensing system cost conversion is approximately $100 per site (including labor). Requires filter change. • Conversion cost of on and off road diesel powered equipment approximately $50 per unit (including labor). Requires fuel filter change after first tank burned.

11. TYPES OF FUELS CONT’D • Bio-Diesel • B20 Blend Cont’d • Additional per gallon cost of between $.09 and $.30. On 11/15/05 Diesel cost $1.9304 per gallon. B20 cost $2.0770 a gallon. A difference of $.1466 per gallon. • Of the 122 NCDOT diesel fueling sites, 25 are currently converted to B20. Plan to convert 8 additional sites this year.

12. PERFORMANCE OF B20 • Keys to a Successful B20 Program • Infrastructure Issues • Initial Filter replacement on equipment and dispensing system is critical to avoid fuel pump issues. • A good tank management program is important, regardless of the type of fuel to avoid algae/bacteria/fungi issues. • Turning the inventory of stored fuel within 6 months in both fuel site tanks and equipment fuel tanks is critical.

13. PERFORMANCE OF B20 • Keys to a Successful B20 Program Cont’d. • Cultural and Contract Issues • Build support from the top down. Educate end-users about the need and the fuel itself. • Form a partnership with your procurement officer. May also require some education. Work with the vendor community to help educate purchasing. • Insure there is sufficient language to hold the successful vendor(s) responsible for the product they deliver. • Restrict the raw product used. Eliminated by specification the use of beef tallow and palm oil due to cold flow issues.

14. Performance of B20 • Keys to a Successful B20 Program Cont’d. • Cultural and Contract Issues (CONT’D) • Have a two year contract with two one year extensions. • Contract utilizes OPIS pricing index and prices are adjusted weekly (every Tuesday). • Delivery by transport load is FOB destination to any of our 100 counties. (Pricing was bid by county.) • Lesser quantities, vendors can add delivery charge. • Specifications must meet all relative ASTM requirements.

15. Performance of B20 • NCDOT SPONSORED RESEARCH PROJECT FINDINGS by NCSU • REAL WORLD DUTY CYCLE FINDINGS • Concurred with most data collected by EPA on dynamometer tests indicating that CO, HC, and PM were reduced by 11, 21, and 10% respectively. • Disagreed with the majority of data reporting a slight increase in NOx of 2-5%. Our findings show that there is a decrease of 10% in NOx levels. • Second round of tests are currently being performed using real world duty cycles on “off road” diesel driven construction equipment.

16. Performance of B20 • HAVE COPIES OF THE BID SPECIFICATION AVAILABLE • HAVE COPIES OF THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT. • QUESTIONS?