Say What? 10 Clean Cities Acronyms You Should Know

by | Feb 18, 2016 | Clean Cities News

Poto of a woman staring at a computer with her head in her hands.

Clean Cities uses a lot of acronyms. What are the most important ones to understand?

Have you ever been on the DOE’s AFDC to learn about EVSE for EVs or PHEVs to meet EPAct requirements? Let’s take a step back. Perhaps you feel like you need a translator just to understand the basics of alternative fuels and advanced vehicles. If this sounds familiar, get in the know with our list of the top Clean Cities acronyms, broken down into 10 categories:

  1. Federal Agencies and National Laboratories
    1. DOE: U.S. Department of Energy. DOE includes:
      1. EIA: Energy Information Administration
      2. DOE National Laboratories:
        1. ANL: Argonne National Laboratory
        2. INL: Idaho National Laboratory
        3. NREL: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
        4. ORNL: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
        5. PNNL: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
    2. DOT: U.S. Department of Transportation. DOT includes:
      1. FHWA: Federal Highway Administration
    3. EPA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

  2. AFDC: Alternative Fuels Data Center

  3. Vehicle Characteristics
    1. GVWR: Gross vehicle weight rating
    2. VMT: Vehicle miles traveled

  4. Fuel Economy
    1. MPG: Miles per gallon
    2. MPGe: Miles per gallon of gasoline-equivalent
    3. GGE: Gasoline-gallon equivalent
    4. DGE: Diesel-gallon equivalent

  5. Vehicle Classes
    1. LDV: Light-duty vehicle
    2. MDV: Medium-duty vehicle
    3. HDV: Heavy-duty vehicle

  6. Vehicle Emissions and Pollutants
    1. GHG: Greenhouse gas:
      1. CO2: Carbon dioxide
    2. Air pollutants:
      1. CO: Carbon monoxide
      2. NOx: Oxides of nitrogen
      3. SOx: Oxides of sulfur
      4. PM: Particulate matter
      5. VOC: Volatile organic compound

  7. Alternative Fuels and Alternative Fuel Vehicles
    1. AFV: Alternative fuel vehicle
    2. Biodiesel
      1. B5: 5% biodiesel, 95% petroleum diesel
      2. B20: 20% biodiesel, 80% petroleum diesel
      3. B100: 100% biodiesel
    3. Electricity
      1. HEV: Hybrid electric vehicle
      2. PEV: Plug-in electric vehicle. PEVs include:
        1. PHEV: Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle
        2. EV: All-electric vehicle
      3. EVSE: Electric vehicle supply equipment
    4. Ethanol
      1. E85: A high-level ethanol-gasoline blend containing 51%-83% ethanol, depending on geography and season.
      2. FFV: Flexible fuel vehicle
    5. Hydrogen
      1. FCEV: Fuel cell electric vehicle
    6. Natural Gas
      1. CNG: Compressed natural gas
      2. LNG: Liquefied natural gas
      3. RNG: Renewable natural gas
      4. NGV: Natural gas vehicle
    7. Propane
      1. LPG: Liquefied petroleum gas

  8. Clean Cities Tools and Resources
    1. GREET: Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation tool
    2. AFLEET: Alternative Fuel Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Transportation tool
    3. PREP: Petroleum Reduction Planning tool
    4. VICE: Vehicle and Infrastructure Cash-Flow Evaluation model

  9. Federal Programs
    1. CAFE: Corporate Average Fuel Economy
    2. CMAQ: Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement
    3. RFS: Renewable Fuel Standard
      1. RIN: Renewable Identification Number

  10. Key Federal Legislation
    1. CAA: Clean Air Act of 1970
    2. EPAct: Energy Policy Act
    3. EISA: Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
    4. ARRA: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) of 2009

 

Bonus
TRS: Technical Response Service: Sometimes you even need an acronym to figure out an acronym! That’s where the TRS comes in!

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