HomeMy WebLinkAbout13.F.2. Purchase of Vehicle for New Fire Chief-Tabled 12/18
J~.F.:L.
CITY OF SHAKOPEE
Memorandum
TO: Mayor and Council
Mark McNeill, City Administrator
FROM: Gregg Voxland, Finance Director
SUBJ: Fire Chief Vehicle Acquisition
DATE: December 13, 2007
Introduction
The 2008 equipment list shows $45,000 for an additional vehicle for the
new Fire Department Chief. SUV vehicles included in the state contract
are listed below. SUV's are common vehicles for Fire Chief's in
Minnesota.
If a vehicle is to be available soon after the potential starting date
of the new chief, it would be timely to order it now. Otherwise, it
could wait until the new chief is selected to have that person's input
on what type of vehicle is needed.
Background
The 2008 state contract for sport utility vehicles (4x4) includes the
following:
Chevrolet, Tahoe
Chevrolet Trail Blazer
Ford Explorer
Ford Escape Hybrid
Ford Escape
Dealer EPA
Price Rating Engine
31,852.08 14/19 5.3
19,859.90 14/20 4.2
21,892.00 13/19 4.0
24,296.86 29/27 2.3
16,275.00 19/24 2.3
Model
Staff recommends the Explorer because it is less expensive than the
Tahoe and although just slightly smaller than the Trail Blazer inside,
it has a better safety rating. The Fire Chief considered the Escape to
be too small but is shown just for comparison purposes.
Contract price - Explorer
Extra keys
$21,892.00
49.00
21,941.00
Action
Move to purchase a 2008 Ford Explorer off of the state contract in the
amount of $21,941.00.
~
Gregg Voxland
Finance Director
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Fueling doubts ~ Ethanol and biodiesel can replacepetroleum, but questions abound about... Page 1 of 4
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Mark McNeill
From: Bruce Loney
Sent: .Wednesday, January 02, 2008 4:02 PM
To: Mark McNeill
Subject: Emailing: Fueling doubts Ethanol. and- biodiesel can replace petroleum, but questions abound about
sustainability
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Home » public works » Fueling. doubts
Fueling doubts
Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Sean Kilcarr
.Many local government fleet managers are conflicted about using ethanol and biodiesel. On one hand,
.the alternative fuels offer. glow-cost way to reduce gasoline and diesel use, and they offer hope to
agricultural communities that stand to profit from greater demand .for fuel crops. On the other, they may
.not .offer the net environmental benefits many city .and counties seek from switching to .alternative fuels.
And, because ethanol and biodiesel currently are produced from important crops, some fear that wider
.use of the fuels might affect he food supply:
Food or fuel?
Fairfax County, Va., has been hedging its bets on the two fuels by purchasing vehicles with aflex-fuel.
option that allows the use of ethanol or gasoline. Because manufacturers have not. charged a premium
for the option, the county will not lose out if ethanol development stalls. "We currently do not use E85
[a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, but the concept is that if we ever do go to it,
we will have a substantial number of vehicles that canuse it right away," says David Duval, quality
control supervisor for the county.
Fairfax County has about 180 flex-fuel vehicles in its fleet and will have more soon when its 2008 Ford
Crown Victoria police cruisers arrive, but officials are cautious about relying on ethanol fuel .largely
because it is produced from corn, an important feedstock, and large quantities are needed to produce the
fuel. Using only part of the U.S.-grown corn supply to make ethanol would displace only about 10
percent of the total gasoline consumed in the country every year, and even if every single kernel of corn
was processed to make ethanol, it would displace only 24 percent of the total gasoline used in the
country, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
In addition, ethanol has a lower energy content, which means more would need to be consumed to equal
the current mileage attained by gasoline-powered vehicles. "Once those harder questions get resolved,
we can cross the easier hurdles, such as the cost of infrastructure," Duval says.
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County officials have similar questions about biodiesel, Duval says. Made predominantly from
soybeans,.biodiesel typically is blended with petroleum-based diesel to create B20 - a fuel comprised
of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent regular diesel fuel. If all available soybeans. were used to make
biodiesel, it would displace only one-quarter of current diesel fuel consumption in the U.S., according to
DOE.
Broadening the supply base
.Ethanol and biodiesel producers are trying to address those issues by using a wider variety of plants as
the raw stock for making the fuels. Traditionally, ethanol is produced by fermenting and distilling starch
crops, such as corn, barley and wheat, that have been converted into simple sugars, according to DOE.
However, ethanol also can be produced from "cellulosic biomass," such as trees and grasses. Cellulosic
ethanol can' be produced from fast-growing trees, corn stover, grain straw, switchgrass, forest products, .
organic waste and even construction waste, and it may-yield a higher energy balance than-ethanol made
from corn, according to DOE.
Ethanol producers also are improving the energy efficiency of their manufacturing processes. Early
. ethanol plants were energy intensive, raising concerns about whether the fuel was worth the energy used
to make it. But, the efficiency of corn ethanol_production has increased over thelast 10 years, and
.technical advancements have improved the net energy value of corn ethanol,. according to DOE. Today,
ethanol production yields almost 25 percent more energy than is used in growing the .corn, harvesting it
and distilling it into ethanol
.Those improvements are keeping some county fleets in ethanol's corner. Two years ago, Montgomery
County, Md.;`built an ethanol fueling facility alongside its natural gas depot to expand its alternative fuel
.options. "In the aftermath of Sept. 11, lessening our dependence on imported oil has taken on a greater
urgency," says Douglas Duncan, the .county's former chief executive. "There are few more patriotic acts
at this time than finding ways to conserve energy and making greater use. of renewable energy sources,
while at the same time improving the environment by reducing air emissions. This county is committed
to the use of environmentally friendly alternative fuel vehicles that will help us achieve the goal of
nutting our energy_consumption."
Biodiesel, like ethanol, is made from organic foodstuffs, though with a different process. According, to
DOE, the key ingredient in biodiesel is fatty acid alkyl esters, a substance found in soybeans, vegetable
oils and animal fats. Like petroleum diesel, biodiesel operates in compression-ignition engines, with
fleets able to use blends of up to 20 percent biodiesel innearly all diesel equipment, usually without
major engine and fuel system modifications.
Higher blends, such as pure biodiesel (B100), can be used in some engines built since .1994 with little or
no modification. However, engine manufacturers are concerned about the effects of B T00 on engine
durability, and B 100 generally is not suitable for use in .low temperature conditions, according to DOE.
Transportation and storage of B 100 also requires special management.
Other biofuel issues
Fleets also must watch several post-production issues with biofuels. For example, biodiesel fuel quality
needs to be consistent so it will burn evenly and not leave residue. or other deposits behind, says Glenn
Lysinger, chief compliance officer for Redford, Mich.-based engine maker Detroit Diesel. "If the fuel is
made correctly, the engine is insensitive to where it came from," he says, noting that diesel engines use
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super high air compression -heating the air. within the combustion chamber to over 1.,000 degrees
Fahrenheit - to ignite fuel; not spark. plugs as their. gasoline counterparts do.
That means almost any fuel source can work with a diesel engine so long as it ignites at high
temperatures. "Why we don't like french fry, vegetable oil, or other `pre-used' feedstocks being used to
produce biodiesel is that they can be contaminated or deteriorate," Lysinger says. "Deposits from
improperly formulated biodiesel .can build up on the diesel engine's injectors and ruin them."
Getting a biodiesel standard, then, is critical to making it a viable alternative to petroleum diesel, says
Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Frederick, Md.-based Diesel Technology Forum. "To realize
biodiesel's maximum potential, we need a major step up in quality, and we need a B20 quality spec," he
says.
Right now, only a B 100 production specification exists. Recently, the West Conshohocken, Pa.-based
American Society for Testing and Materials upgraded that standard to ensure that biodiesel blends of up
to 20 percent will be compatible with 2007 diesel exhaust emissions technology, according to Steve
Howell, technical director for the National Biodiesel Board in Jefferson City, Mo.
With ethanol, .flammability is a major concern. "Fires involving E85 and other ethanol/gasoline mixtures
containing more than 10 percent ethanol should be treated differentlythan traditional gasoline fires
.because -they mix readily with water and will degrade the effectiveness offire-fighting foam, which is
not alcohol-resistant," says Lt.1Vlike Adams with the Montgomery County, Md., Fire and Rescue
Service. "Also, at low temperature (32 degrees Fahrenheit or less) E85 vapor is more. flammable than
gasoline vapor.,
Moving forward
.Despite those issues, many city and county fleets are expanding their use of ethanol and biodiesel,
mainly because the fuels are easy to integrate into their operations and meet government energy security
goals.. Riverside County, Calif., has 148 flex-fuel vehicles in its 3,574-unit fleet that will use only E85
.fuel when new refueling stations are completed. In addition, all Ford Crown Victoria patrol vehicles -
ofwhich the county purchases 275 annually - will be E85 -flex-fuel vehicles..
Although-fuel mileage is lower with biofuels than with gasoline and high biodiesel blends, the county
has seen other benefits. "We tested two Chevrolet Tahoes on gasoline and E85 and could not detect a
difference in engine performance, smoothness or sound," says Doug Baracz, deputy director of fleet
services for Riverside County. "The E85 fuel blend keeps fueLsystems cleaner than gasoline, for
potentially lower long-term maintenance costs."
At this point, local government fleets are attempting to balance the risks with the rewards of using
biofuels, and they are waiting for further developments. "From along-term perspective, neither ethanol
nor biodiesel are the silver bullets we're looking for," Duval says. "This is not to say we shouldn't use
them. Yet, it means by the very nature of their finite supply that all fleets, public as well as private, can't
switch over to them; there won't'be enough to go around. We need to look for something that everyone
-even consumers -can use to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases, while cutting our dependence
on foreign oil."
Sean Kilcarr is senior editor for Fleet Owner, A~nel
ican City & County's sister publication.
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