Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition

PRIMARILY TO ENCOURAGE AWARENESS OF, DEVELOPMENT OF, AND PUBLIC POLICIES PROMOTING ALTERNATIVE FUEL AND ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES. FURTHERMORE, THE COALITION IS ORGANIZED AND MAY BE EXPECTED TO CONDUCT ANY OTHER PURPOSE PERMISSIBLE UNDER THE ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION.

ALTERNATIVE FUEL AND VEHICLE USAGE AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTSTHE ORGANIZATION CONTINUED ITS PARTICIPATION IN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S (DOE) CLEAN CITIES PROGRAM AS A DESIGNATED CLEAN CITIES COALITION. THE PROGRAM PROMOTES THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY VEHICLES (AFV) TO EXPAND THE MARKET FOR ALTERNATIVE FUELS, CREATE JOB OPPORTUNITIES, IMPROVE AIR QUALITY, AND TO REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN SOURCES OF ENERGY. DURING 2022, ACFC AND ITS MEMBERS WORKED PRIMARILY WITH STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO PROVIDE THEM WITH INFORMATION ON THE BENEFITS OF AFVS AND TO IDENTIFY AND IMPLEMENT AFV USES AND ALTERNATIVE FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS. THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS WAS SIGNIFICANT IN ALABAMA IN 2022 AND PROVIDED A REDUCTION IN THE USE OF PETROLEUM OF MORE THAN 16.8 MILLION GALLONS OF GASOLINE GALLON EQUIVALENT (GGE) AND 123,414 TONS OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS. THIS EFFORT WAS LED PRIMARILY BY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS WITH ASSISTANCE FROM THE ACFC. DURING 2022, ALTERNATIVE FUELS (E85 ETHANOL, B20 BIODIESEL, AND PROPANE) CONTINUED TO BE INCLUDED ON THE STATE FUEL CONTRACT. IN ADDITION TO BEING AVAILABLE TO STATE AGENCIES, THESE ALTERNATIVE FUELS CAN BE PURCHASED BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ON THE STATE CONTRACT FROM APPROVED VENDORS IN ALL 67 COUNTIES IN ALABAMA. USE OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS IN THE FLEETS OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN ALABAMA CONTINUED TO BE USED IN 2022: THE ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION USED 96,814 GALLONS OF B20 BIODIESEL AND 111,105 GALLONS OF E85 ETHANOL; THE ALABAMA STATE DOCKS USED 1,147 GALLONS OF PROPANE; THE ALABAMA STATE MOTOR POOL USED 7,865 GALLONS OF E85 ETHANOL; THE MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER USED 20,927 GALLONS OF E85 ETHANOL; THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM USED 10,357 GALLONS OF E85 ETHANOL AND 148 GALLONS OF PROPANE; CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SCHOOLS USED 95,636 GALLONS OF PROPANE; THE BIRMINGHAM-JEFFERSON COUNTY TRANSIT AUTHORITY (BJCTA) USED 762,227 GGE OF CNG; THE ACFC DEVELOPED PUBLIC ACCESS CNG STATION AT THE BJCTA FACILITY DISPENSED 51,960 GGE OF CNG TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC; MOBILE COUNTY SCHOOLS USED 540,325 GALLONS OF PROPANE; THE CITY OF DAPHNE UTILITIES USED 7,645 GGE OF CNG; FRANKLIN COUNTY SCHOOLS USED 92,820 GALLONS OF PROPANE; THE LEE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE USED 3,805 GALLONS OF PROPANE; THE TOWN OF GORDO USED 101,057 GGE OF CNG; THE CITY OF ATHENS USED 26,961 HEAVY DUTY GGE OF CNG AND 11,403 LIGHT DUTY GGE OF CNG;; THE CITY OF TUSCALOOSA/TUSCALOOSA TRANSIT USED 22,224 GALLONS OF PROPANE; TUSCALOOSA CITY SCHOOLS USED 307,686 GALLONS OF PROPANE; LAWSON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE USED 50 GGE OF CNG; THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, THROUGH THE PUBLICS' USE OF THEIR ON-CAMPUS EV CHARGING STATIONS, REDUCED PETROLEUM USAGE BY 87,649 GALLONS. THE CITY OF MONTGOMERY OPERATED DIESEL-HYBRID ELECTRIC TRANSIT BUSES REDUCING PETROLEUM USAGE BY 13,499 GALLONS; AND WASTE VEGETABLE OIL TO BIODIESEL INITIATIVES CONTINUED AT THE ALABAMA INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF AND BLIND, WHERE THE PROGRAM PRODUCED 2750 GALLONS OF B100 BIODIESEL. ACFC ALSO SERVES AS THE EV CONSULTANT FOR THE STATE OF ALABAMA. THROUGH THESE EFFORTS, ACFC ASSISTS THE STATE OF ALABAMA IN DEVELOPING A STATEWIDE ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN, WHICH INCLUDED THEIR PLANS FOR THE NATIONAL ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE (NEVI) FORMULA PROGRAM. THIS PLAN WAS USED BY THE STATE TO DETERMINE PRIORITIES AND CRITERIA NEEDED TO DEVELOP A STATEWIDE GRANT PROGRAM TO INSTALL EV CHARGERS AROUND THE STATE. ADDITIONALLY, AS ALABAMA'S EV CONSULTANT, ACFC ASSISTED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATE'S EV INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT APPLICATION USED BY THE STATE TO SELECT LOCATIONS FOR THE NEWLY FUNDED EV CHARGING STATIONS. ACFC PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR ADDITIONAL ALTERNATIVE FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS AND INCREASED THE AVAILABILITY OF CLEANER BURNING FUELS TO THE PUBLIC IN ALABAMA DURING CALENDAR YEAR 2022 AND BEYOND. INCREASING AVAILABILITY OF THESE FUELS WILL IMPROVE AIR QUALITY. IN ADDITION, OTHER POTENTIAL PROJECTS WERE IDENTIFIED FOR FUTURE FUNDING AND/OR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. THESE ACFC PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES SERVE TO LESSEN THE BURDENS OF GOVERNMENT. THESE ACFC ACTIVITIES ALSO FURTHER A CHARITABLE PURPOSE BY IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENT, WHICH PROMOTES SOCIAL WELFARE.

EDUCATION: DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION DURING 2022, ACFC CONTINUED A THREE-STATE PUBLIC EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP (PEP) CAMPAIGN IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ALABAMA BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION TO EDUCATE THE CITIZENS ON THE BENEFITS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES. ACFC RECEIVED A GRANT IN 2021 THAT FUNDED SIMILAR PROJECTS IN ALABAMA, GEORGIA, AND TENNESSEE FROM DECEMBER 2021 UNTIL THE END OF MARCH 2022. ACFC RECEIVED ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO SUSTAIN THE PROGRAM IN ALL THREE STATES FROM AUGUST 2022 UNTIL THE END OF JANUARY 2023. THE ENTIRE ALABAMA CAMPAIGN RESULTED IN 7,762 TV SPOTS, 23,247 RADIO SPOTS, AND 36,706,070 DIGITAL IMPRESSIONS. TRI-STATE RESULTS INCLUDED 27,101 TV ADS, 93,407 RADIO ADS, AND 112,137,545 DIGITAL IMPRESSIONS.DURING 2022, ACFC HELD NUMEROUS EV SHOWCASES AROUND EARTH DAY AND NATIONAL DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK. THESE SHOWCASES WERE HELD AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS: THREE IN BIRMINGHAM, TWO IN HUNTSVILLE, ONE IN AUBURN, ONE IN THE MONTGOMERY AREA, AND TWO IN THE MOBILE AREA. ACFC ALSO FACILITATED A WEBINAR ON ALTERNATIVE FUEL USE IN PARATRANSIT VEHICLES.OTHER OUTREACH AND EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS BY ACFC DURING 2022 INCLUDED NUMEROUS STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS, PRESENTATIONS TO COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, AND RESPONDING TO NUMEROUS MEDIA AND CONSUMER INQUIRES ON ALTERNATIVE FUELS. MANY OF THESE MEETINGS AND EVENTS GENERATED MEDIA COVERAGE WHICH ENABLED THE MESSAGING REACH TO BE EXPANDED SIGNIFICANTLY. THROUGH ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE AS WELL AS THE MEDIA AND SOCIAL MEDIA GENERATED, THESE OUTREACH AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES REACHED MORE THAN 2,388,576 PEOPLE. ACFC OPERATES A HOTLINE THROUGH ITS WEBSITE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE BENEFITS OF AFV'S AND ALTERNATIVE FUELS. DURING 2022 ACFC RESPONDED TO NUMEROUS REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION. EXAMPLES OF TYPICAL REQUESTS ARE FROM INDIVIDUALS INTERESTED IN CLEAN FUEL/AFV INFORMATION AND CLEAN FUEL STATION LOCATIONS AND REQUESTS FROM TEACHERS FOR CURRICULUM RELATED INFORMATION ON AFV'S AND AIR QUALITY. ACFC ALSO HELPED TO GENERATE PRINT AND ONLINE NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ACROSS THE STATE ON VARIOUS ALTERNATIVE FUEL PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES. THESE ACFC ACTIVITIES FURTHER AN EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE BY DISSEMINATING INFORMATION REGARDING RISKS POSED BY AIR POLLUTION AS WELL AS INFORMATION CONCERNING CLEAN FUEL ALTERNATIVES TO FOSSIL-BURNING VEHICLES.