THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040527
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 140 lines
Meter readers for Virginia Power sometimes make their rounds in electric-powered trucks. Virginia Beach trims several school yards with a riding mower fired by natural gas.
Baseball fans can reach Harbor Park in Norfolk by taking a natural-gas-powered ferry from Portsmouth. And the Navy is about to spend $420,000 to build two compressed-natural-gas fueling stations, in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
The futuristic world of alternative fuels - of soybean-mixed gasoline, of trash and wood chips as energy sources, of zero-emission cars running on batteries - is here now.
But most examples of this fledgling, clean-air technology are pilot projects or government tests. A funky car here, a converted engine there. Commercial appeal and daily consumption seem as distant as a gas station in the desert.
That may start to change today.
At a VIP ceremony at Nauticus in Norfolk, U.S. Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary will declare Hampton Roads a member of the ``Clean Cities'' program - a designation that opens the region to federal grants, research assistance and other incentives for wider use of alternative fuels.
Hampton Roads will become the first region in Virginia and the 49th nationwide to join the voluntary program, created in 1993 to help curb America's voracious appetite for foreign oil, said James Ferguson, a Department of Energy program manager in Philadelphia.
Local supporters, who have labored three years for this day, trumpet the declaration as a coup for regional cooperation, as well as an opportunity to develop jobs and businesses that aid the environment.
``When I first heard about this, I said, `Oh no, another federal program,' '' said Keith Miller, president of EnviroSolutions, a Virginia Beach environmental consulting firm. ``But this is different. It's about training, public education, bringing people together. It's what I think the federal government should be doing to spur business and environmental protection.''
The Environmental Technology Center in Chesapeake already has won a $45,000 federal grant to act as a regional clearinghouse for program information and contacts.
Alternative fuels, by definition, are those with little or no petroleum in them. They include propane, natural gas (both compressed and liquified) and electricity.
Reformulated gasoline, now sold widely at area pumps as a way to control smog, is not considered an alternative. It contains too much petroleum.
When burned in engines or boilers, petroleum sends chemical particles into the air that, under intense sunlight in summer, can create smog, a respiratory hazard.
While Hampton Roads has not suffered a day of excessive smog in three years, regional leaders are nonetheless counting on alternative fuels to help keep local air quality safe.
The program comes as several legal deadlines approach, each requiring state and federal agencies in the region to buy more vehicles powered by alternative sources.
The Navy, with its massive Norfolk Naval Base and expanding Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, faces the biggest task. To comply with the Energy Policy Act, the Navy must purchase ``several hundred'' alternative-fueled vehicles by 2000, according to a Navy spokesman.
Other officials said the Navy could have as many as 1,000 alternative-fuel vehicles buzzing around South Hampton Roads by the turn of the century.
Through fiscal year 1997, the Navy has appropriated $500,000 for new cars and trucks, most of which will run on compressed natural gas, and a few on electricity, the Navy spokesman said.
As part of its upgrade, two fast-fill fueling stations, costing another $420,000, will be constructed at Oceana and Norfolk Naval Base. They will not be open to the public, the Navy said.
Public access to alternative fuels is perhaps the biggest obstacle - and, at the same time, the biggest business opportunity - to more widespread use of natural gas and propane, according to local experts.
``The technology is there, but it's the infrastructure - that gas station type of thing, where you just drive up and pump - that's tough,'' said Edward W. Ware III, director of public affairs for Virginia Natural Gas. ``There's only five or six places (in Hampton Roads) right now for people to go.''
Virginia Natural Gas and other fuel providers hope the ``Clean Cities'' designation encourages big oil companies to add an alternative-fuel pump or two at their stations.
``It's the wave of the future, no doubt; they can either catch it or be left behind,'' said Miller, the environmental consultant, adding that he has talked with one big oil company about expanding into alternative fuels locally.
Alternative vehicles have been around for years. China ran many of its buses on liquified natural gas in the 1960s. But until now, problems have outweighed promise, especially with maintenance costs and a lack of range, officials said.
But, as with most technologies, designs are advancing and problems are fading. One key, experts said, is that fuel systems are now being synchronized with on-board computers. Before, most alternative vehicles on the road were running with converted engines.
``The start-up costs are still high, but you're seeing fewer tune-ups, less oil changes. These new vehicles run a lot better - and cheaper,'' said Michael J. Lannon, who manages the city of Virginia Beach's alternative fuels program.
The advances are encouraging plenty of experimenting, both by government and industry.
Tidewater Regional Transit christened its natural gas-powered ferry last year at Harbor Park, and launched a compressed-natural-gas trolley two years earlier along the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach.
In 1993, Virginia Beach became the first city in Virginia to roll out an alternative-fuel police cruiser. The city has since converted a riding lawn mower to natural gas, and shows off a monster firetruck that runs on natural gas at schools and seminars, Lannon said.
Like Virginia Beach, the city of Norfolk has received a state grant to help buy alternative-fuel vehicles. Norfolk purchased a $20,000 Dodge Caravan with state aid last year, and Virginia Beach expects to acquire a new Ford truck this year with assistance from the Virginia Alternative Fuels Revolving Fund. Both vehicles run on compressed natural gas, city officials said.
Despite its successes, the state fund faces an uncertain future. Created in 1992, it has doled out $2.1 million in grants to 53 recipients, said Larry Dodd, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation, which administers the loan fund.
But in the current state budget, no money is set aside for the fund after fiscal year 1997, Dodd said. Lawmakers approved $500,000 in grants this year but could not agree on whether to keep the fund going after that, state officials said.
Its survival is expected to be discussed again in the coming legislative session.
Regardless of the outcome, Virginia Power is plowing ahead with its alternative-fuels program, which centers on electric vehicles.
The state's largest electric utility plans to buy several electric trucks from General Motors next year, at $32,000 apiece, said Brett Crable, Virginia Power's program manager for infrastructure development.
The utility also struck a deal with GM earlier this month to distribute high-tech battery chargers for electric cars and trucks throughout the Southeast, Crable said.
The chargers cut by more than half the time it takes to juice up an electric car, from eight to three hours, he added.
``The technology is only going to get better,'' Crable said. ``We think we're into an industry that will only grow and get bigger and bigger. We're excited.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON, The Virginian-Pilot
Gerald E. Spivey Jr., energy manager for the city of Norfolk, pumps
compressed natural gas into a city van at one of the few such
pumping stations in the area.
KEYWORDS: ENERGY CONSERVATION ALTERNATIVE FUEL FEDERAL
GRANT by CNB