Seattle Mayor Aims At 50% Fleet Emissions Cut By 2025 Via Electric Vehicles
Originally published on EV Obsession.
The mayor of Seattle, Ed Murray, has announced a plan to cut city vehicle fleet greenhouse-gas emissions by 50% by the year 2025 through the use of electric vehicles and biodiesel.
The plans were revealed at the recent Climate Leadership Conference in Seattle, where Murray also revealed his intent to increase electric vehicle (EV) presence in the city by 15,000 vehicles by 2025 — with city fleet EV increases playing a part.
Currently Seattle gets the vast majority of its electricity from hydroelectric generation sources. As a result, if the city wants to notably cut greenhouse gas emissions, it will need to do so mostly in the transportation sector.
The Seattle Times provides more:
With an estimated 65% of Seattle’s greenhouse-gas emissions coming from transportation, Murray said, his Drive Clean Seattle will help cut carbon pollution that is contributing to climate change. His developing plan includes a range of strategies to transition transportation, both public and private, away from fossil fuels to clean, carbon-neutral electric energy.
Blessed with abundant zero-carbon hydropower from Seattle City Light, Seattle is in a position to lead the country by example, Murray said, with more electric buses, cars and light-duty trucks on the roads.
…Murray’s Green Fleet Action Plan calls for replacing about 120,000 gallons of gas burned in the city fleet with electricity.
“We have clean energy at our fingertips, and it’s time to use it to improve our transportation infrastructure,” Murray commented.
Further reductions could result from the replacement of conventional diesel with biodiesel, according to those involved. (Author’s note: I remain unconvinced that biodiesel truly possesses less of a carbon footprint, when everything is factored in, than conventional diesel. So I would tend towards supporting the shift to electric transportation instead.)
The plan also calls for the installation of 400 new EV charging stations in the city over the next 5–7 years, to make the transition to EVs easier.
“Cities are a place to incubate ideas. We can be a model,” Murray added.
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The problem with biodiesel isn’t carbon dioxide emissions but the other locally lethal ones: soot and NOX. If Murray wants a green city, he has to go straight to BEVs.
Did any other mayors attending the conference make significant announcements? Orders not targets, please.
Electric cars should be the solution. Also reducing speed limits in the city to 30 MPH maximum would allow small electric cars like the Renault Twizzy and solar powered electric ELF from Organic Transit to replace most of the dirty gas cars. Building barrier protected bike lanes all over the city would also help get more cars off the road, and clean up the air.
As a Tesla owner I welcome the proposal to install more EV chargers as I usually have to go home (Edmonds) or Bellevue to charge up. There is almost no EV charging infrastructure in the city.
the carbon reductions related to biodiesel are very well researched and documented. 57% for soy biodiesel and 87% with used cooking oil bio. You may be unconvinced but the scientists and the EPA are convinced and they have done the actual research. Also, biodiesel greatly reduces soot, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and other local pollutants as well. If you going to publish a blog at least do the basic research
They want to continue with diesel for the big rigs like Garbage Trucks, Vacuum trucks, Utility Pole trucks, Fire Trucks, Street sweeper, and Snow plows. Until there is a suitable replacement for those vehicles, we’ll be suck with the diesels. I think we could at least move to using LNG or CNG solution similar to what I have seen in Los Angles shipping port.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1094087_why-arent-natural-gas-powered-long-haul-semi-trucks-selling-better
I’ve drove passed the Long Beach refueling station many times. There might be an electric solutions in the future like what LA port is experimenting with.
https://www.portoflosangeles.org/environment/zero.asp
I think I’m going to write him a letter because I don’t think Ed Murray is aware of CNG being heavily used in LA/LB area successfully.