President Obama Announces National Clean Fleets Partnership
Building upon his bold goal of reducing America's petroleum use by one-third by 2025, President Obama announced the creation of the National Clean Fleets Partnership on April 1. This public-private partnership will help large companies reduce diesel and gasoline use in their fleets by incorporating electric vehicles, alternative fuels, and fuel-saving measures into their daily operations. Through the Partnership, the Department of Energy (DOE) will assist companies in their efforts to reduce fuel use and achieve greater efficiency and cost-savings by offering specialized resources, technical expertise, and support. The partnership is part of the DOE Vehicle Technology Program's "Clean Cities" initiative.
The Partnership has commitments from five of its charter members: AT&T, FedEx, PepsiCo, UPS, and Verizon — all of whom are Members of NAFA. These charter members represent five of the nation's 10 largest national fleets and collectively own and operate more than 275,000 vehicles. Their planned current and near-term petroleum reduction strategies will account for the deployment of more than 20,000 advanced technology vehicles and annual petroleum displacement in excess of seven million gallons. DOE is challenging other companies to join this important effort.
Through the National Clean Fleets Partnership, the Department of Energy will help companies:
- Reduce fuel use through the use of more efficient vehicles and technologies, including hybrids.
- Replace conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles with advanced technology vehicles or ones that use alternative fuels, such as electricity, natural gas, biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen, or propane.
Partners will benefit from:
- Opportunities for collaboration with DOE and their peers: By joining the partnership, companies of many sizes can benefit from a number of opportunities for technical assistance and collaboration, including: opportunities for peer-to-peer information exchange, collaboration with DOE and national laboratories surrounding research and development initiatives, and assistance in pursuing group purchasing—so that smaller companies work with their larger peers to get the benefits of purchasing advanced vehicles in bulk.
- DOE technical tools and resources: DOE has developed a wide range of technical tools to help partner companies navigate the world of alternative fuels and advanced vehicles. A diverse collection of cost calculators, interactive maps, customizable database searches, and mobile applications puts vital information and analysis at fleets' fingertips.