Editor’s Note: The following was taken from a press release issued today by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
More than $2.1 million in 2019 Alternative Fuel Incentive Grants were awarded Monday – money that will fund 18 cleaner fuel vehicle projects statewide.
DEP officials said the grants “will help improve air quality and public health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change.”
“We’re committed to helping Pennsylvanians breathe cleaner air at school, in their neighborhoods, and at their workplaces and to reducing climate change by putting more cleaner fuel vehicles in use around the state,” DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said in the release.
Eighteen vehicle replacement projects located in 13 counties will put 82 cleaner fuel vehicles in use. They’re expected to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 1,349 metric tons per year.
Two of those projects are right here in Allegheny County: Duquesne Light Company was awarded $20,000 to retrofit four pick-up trucks with a plug-in hybrid electric drive system while Noble Environmental, Inc. received $300,000 to purchase eight CNG garbage trucks.
The grant program supports the replacement of older gasoline- or diesel-fueled vehicles with cleaner fuel vehicles as well as fueling stations intended to reduce emissions of harmful pollutants like carbon monoxide, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide – a principal greenhouse gas.
Electric, ethanol, biodiesel, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied propane gas, and other cleaner fuels are supported. Local governments, schools, businesses, and organizations may apply for grants. DEP administers the grant program under the Pennsylvania Alternative Fuels Incentive Act of 2004.
You can read a list of all grant recipients here.