The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently awarded more than $2.7 million in Alternative Fuel Incentive Grants (AFIGs) to 18 cleaner fuel transportation projects statewide.
The program funds projects that replace older gasoline- or diesel-fueled vehicles with cleaner-fuel vehicles, including those powered by electric, ethanol, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, and propane gas. It also supports the installation of fueling stations.
The program’s goal is to help reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds.
Grants are awarded in three categories – vehicle retrofit and/or purchasing, refueling infrastructure, and innovative technology – and funding will result in four new refueling stations and 87 cleaner fuel vehicles.
Collectively, the projects are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 600 metric tons annually.
“These projects will help every single Pennsylvanian breathe cleaner air at school, in their communities, and at their workplaces,” Ramez Ziadeh, DEP executive deputy secretary, said. “The impact of these grants is not limited to a specific city block or bound by a municipal property line.”
In Pennsylvania, transportation generates 47 percent of the nitrogen oxide emissions. A total of 21 percent of the state’s carbon dioxide emissions are from vehicles.