Incentives And Laws Enacted By State Legislatures In 2015

Question of the Month: What types of incentives and laws did state legislators and others enact in 2015?

Answer: State legislators, as well as governors and utilities, were busy in 2015 introducing and enacting new incentives, laws, and regulations related to alternative fuels, advanced vehicles, and other petroleum reduction strategies. Programs related to plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and natural gas vehicles (NGVs), along with the associated fueling infrastructure, were most common at the state level.

State Incentives
The most common types of incentives established in 2015 were grants and rebates. States leading the way in these areas include Delaware, most notably for its Clean Transportation Program rebates for vehicles and infrastructure. On the other hand, the number of tax incentives introduced at the state level decreased. In fact, Georgia repealed its successful tax incentive program. Aside from political and budgetary drivers, the decrease in new tax incentives may be the result of a call from industry to enact programs that will allow fleets and consumers to see their savings more immediately (e.g., rebates, vouchers). This would take the place of waiting until tax season when the financial benefit may get lost in the other expenses and returns from the previous year.

Utility Incentives
Utilities also continue to innovate and establish incentives that go beyond the typical residential charging infrastructure rebate and electricity rate discount programs. For example, Alabama Power offers an incentive to dealerships for each new PEV sale or lease within its service territory. Public Service Electric & Gas in New Jersey provides free electric vehicle supply equipment to qualified companies in its service territory for the purpose of workplace charging.

Laws and Regulations
Registration and licensing was the most common law and regulation topic, in part due to several states introducing fees for PEV registration to account for lost revenue from fuel taxes. Several states also continued to build on a movement that began in 2014 and changes that took place at the federal level by enacting legislation to tax natural gas and other fuels on an energy (i.e., gasoline-gallon or diesel-gallon) equivalent basis. States also continued to set targets and requirements for their own fleets, many of which go above and beyond federal requirements for alternative fuel vehicle acquisition. For example, Colorado Executive Order 2015-013 established fleet purchase and pricing requirements that prioritize NGVs, annual fuel use reduction targets on a vehicle-specific basis, goals for inter-agency coordination on petroleum reduction strategies, and commitments to workplace charging.

For the most up-to-date information on incentives, laws, and regulations, the Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) provides a searchable database of state and federal incentives, laws, and regulations related to alternative fuels and vehicles, air quality, vehicle efficiency, and other transportation-related topics. You can find information relevant to your state, and all others at http://www.afdc.energy.gov/laws.

For more information on the legislative trends discussed above, as well as a summary of utility incentives and initiatives, visit the AFDC Technology and Policy Bulletins page at http://www.afdc.energy.gov/technology_bulletins.html.



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Russia is developing a rocket engine powered by natural gas

From GNV Magazine:

January 15, 2016. The Russian space agency Roscosmos is preparing to develop a new rocket engine powered by methane to remain in international competition.

Roscosmos requests a grant of 25,000 million rubles (USD 326 million) from the federal budget to develop the basic elements of cruise engines that operate on the basis of methane.

With this amount, the agency will also develop engine prototypes for new generation liquid powered rockets, equipped with diagnostic system and emergency protection as well as the basics of engines based on composite materials.

"We intend to create a methane-driven, although there are still no plans to build rockets with those equipments, because we want to make technological progress and not fall behind foreign competitors," the agency said.

Meanwhile, the US aerospace SpaceX is developing a rocket propellant called Raptor which also works with methane.

This fuel provides advantages in the longest space missions as it is less bulky than hydrogen and their storage is easier. In addition, methane tanks do not need as much insulation, making the rockets can be lighter and cheaper costs. Finally, this gas could be found and collected on other planets, like Mars, Jupiter or Titan.

T. Boone Pickens' Hope for the State of the Union

I hope President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union Address, announces an energy plan that will help restart the world's economies in 2016.

I don't have much confidence that will happen - every president since Nixon has promised an energy plan and not delivered one - and, because for the past year, President Obama has single-handedly led the charge to restrain worldwide economic growth by demanding that fossil fuels are, in essence, declared illegal.

The Industrial Revolution began in approximately 1760 and was fueled in large part by coal. It allowed average families to move beyond a life of subsistence farming, with tools and clothing that were largely made in their homes. Only the wealthiest (the "One Percenters" of the day) could afford to purchase anything approaching a luxury item.

Coal providing the power to run steam engines proved far more efficient than water wheels (or wood) allowing towns and cities to flourish near water used primarily for shipping, not primarily for power. Wood is coal 300 million years before its time.

The first commercial mining of coal occurred near Richmond, Virginia in 1748, helping to import the Industrial Revolution to the New World.

President Barack Obama's single-minded focus on global warming aims to reverse the past 268 years of human history and, in the developing world, will mean that economic development will be delayed for generations, if not halted altogether.

The population of the world at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution was about 791 million. The total population of the earth is today 7.2 billion (India and China alone account for 2.66 billion of them).

It is clear to anyone who considers the problem of feeding, housing, providing transportation and communications, heating, cooling, and purifying water for a population that is more than 900% larger than at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution requires more forms of energy, not fewer.

Since I began the Pickens Plan in the summer of 2008, I have said we should use any form of fuel available to provide for our economic growth. That includes not just natural gas, coal and oil; but also hydro, geothermal, nuclear, wind, and solar.

Anything American.

Natural gas has become cheap enough to be able to replace coal in many power plants - dramatically reducing greenhouse gas and particulate emissions. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, in 2014 coal accounted for 39 percent of electricity production; natural gas 27 percent, nuclear 19 percent. Wind accounted for 4.4 percent and solar 0.4 percent. All others made up the rest.

What the President should call for in his last State of the Union Address is a comprehensive energy plan that includes allowing the United States to continue to lead the world by both the free import and export of all sources of energy.

If he wants to demonstrate real concern for the developing world, a major part of his energy plan should look for ways to export our technology - in addition to our resources - to teach the developing world how to make the best use of the resources they have, and how to be good custodians of the air and water while doing it.

That's my hope for the President's speech.

-Boone

Fuels Fix Winter 2016

Read it here. Inside this issue:

• "Utah's National Parks Maintain Iconic Scenery with Alternative Fuels"
• "Waste to fuel in Louisiana" about the St. Landry Parish Solid Waste BioCNG station which produces BioCNG at less than half the cost of gasoline.
• "Lightning Hybrids: Braking for Energy" about an award-winning hydraulic hybrid system that uses no batteries.

The Dirty Truth About 'Clean Diesel'

A New York Times opinion piece explains the problems with diesel fuel.

The diesel engine is inherently efficient: Even a heavy sedan can get as much as 50 miles per gallon, while producing fewer carbon dioxide emissions per mile. The relatively light carbon footprint of Diesel’s invention meant that in the late 1990s, policy makers in Europe, eager to meet Kyoto Protocol goals, initiated a “dash for diesel.” Consumers got a push from sharply reduced taxes on diesel fuel.

Industry soon took the hint: Diesel could be marketed as green. The Diesel Technology Forum’s website proclaims that “Today’s ultralow sulfur diesel, advanced engines and effective emissions control combine to achieve near zero emissions.”

Diesel exhaust is laden with insidious soot particles, the so-called PM 2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns, or one-thirtieth the width of a human hair), which allow carcinogens to penetrate deep into tissues and organs. In other words, a driver who steps on the accelerator of a diesel car may be filling the lungs of nearby pedestrians, cyclists, infants in strollers and other drivers with potentially deadly particulate matter.