Macon Fleet Going to Ethanol Fuel Mix

By Travis Fain, The Macon Telegraph, Ga.

Oct. 10–Macon is preparing to switch its vehicle fleet to a 10 percent ethanol fuel mixture that should cut carbon monoxide emissions.

The move should also save the city about 5 cents a gallon, said Sam Hugley, the city’s interim director of vehicle maintenance.

“We should be doing it the first of the week come Monday morning,” Hugley said.

More than half the city’s 1,400 vehicles run on gasoline, and the city is expected to spend more than $960,000 on vehicle fuel this year, Hugley said. The gas vehicles will start running on a 90 percent gasoline, 10 percent ethanol mixture, also known as E-10. It’s a change that doesn’t require any vehicle modifications, according to various environmental organizations and the American Coalition for Ethanol.

Ethanol is a type of alcohol, most commonly made from corn.

Environmental activists said ethanol has its pros and cons, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Burning it produces less greenhouse gas, although it may also create more nitrogen oxide, a major contributor to smog, according to the Sierra Club and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

“Ethanol is kind of a mixed bag,” said Natalie Foster, a Sierra Club representative in Atlanta.

“It takes a lot of energy to produce. … Taking the corn from seed to production takes a lot of fossil fuels.”

Still, Foster said, “I really appreciate the city’s decreasing our dependency on oil. … It’s definitely the direction we need to go.”

With the switch, the city’s entire fleet will be running on alternative fuel mixes, Hugley said.

Many city vehicles run on biodiesel, a cleaner-burning fuel made partly from animal fats or vegetable oils.

The Bibb County school system also uses biodiesel, and the city has some vehicles that run on propane, compressed natural gas and electricity, said Charise Stephens, executive director of the Middle Georgia Clean Cities Coalition.

Stephens said Macon has been a leader in alternative fuel use and she hopes the city’s move to an ethanol mix will be a catalyst for other cities.

“This will be the first time for ethanol in Middle Georgia,” Stephens said. “I think they should be commended.”

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