#18
Clean Cities Top 20 Facts
New tool helps fleets estimate the environmental and economic benefits of alternative fuels and advanced vehicles
Over the past 20 years, the Clean Cities program has been successful in part because of a network of coalitions, stakeholders, and technical experts collaborating to make an impact within local communities. To support this network, Clean Cities offers more than a dozen easy-to-use online tools. These calculators, interactive maps, and data searches help fleets and drivers evaluate, select, and deploy alternative fuels and advanced vehicles.
The newest of these helpful resources was developed by Argonne National Laboratory: the Alternative Fuel Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Transportation (AFLEET) Tool. Using simple spreadsheet inputs, AFLEET Tool can help a fleet estimate vehicles’ petroleum use, greenhouse gas (GHG) and air pollutant emissions, and cost of ownership.
AFLEET Tool provides three calculation options:
- The Simple Payback Calculator uses acquisition and annual operating costs to calculate the payback period for purchasing a new alternative fuel vehicle relative to a comparable conventional vehicle; it also calculates the vehicle’s average annual petroleum use and emissions.
- The Total Cost of Ownership Calculator evaluates the net present value of operating and fixed costs over a new vehicle’s planned ownership period, as well as its lifetime petroleum use and emissions.
- The Fleet Energy and Emissions Footprint Calculator estimates the annual petroleum use and emissions of existing and new vehicles, accounting for older vehicles’ higher air pollutant emissions.
AFLEET Tool requires Microsoft Excel to run and may be downloaded free from Argonne National Laboratory.
Be sure to check out AFLEET Tool and other useful online tools provided by Clean Cities.
Note: “Cost of ownership” does not include costs to build, operate, or maintain infrastructure (unless those costs are already rolled into the fuel pricing).
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- For more information:
- Clean Cities Technical Response Service Team
- technicalresponse@icfi.com
- 800-254-6735