The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation likes what it sees in hybrid buses from Azure Dynamics. PennDOT placed an order for 10 eighteen-passenger Azure/StarTrans Hybrid Para-transit Citibus vehicles and may order 15 more in the future. The PennDOT hybrids will have a few specific abilities, including "engine-off driving while electronically supporting key ancillary functions like air conditioning, power steering and braking," according to Azure's announcement of the sale (available after the jump). Considering that the hybrid system with the GM Vortec 4.8L engine that powers the bus is more fuel efficient (by 40 percent) and requires much less maintenance than similar, conventionally-equipped buses, they give Governor Ed Rendell another chance to talk up his state's energy saving plans. No delivery date was given, but the hybrids will be used in York County when they are ready.

[Source: Azure Dynamics Corporation]

Pennsylvanians who want to take one of the easiest possible steps to reduce vehicle emissions, congestion and fuel use (I'm talking about carpooling here) are getting a push from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The PA DEP's is promoting a summer-long "Share the Ride Challenge" that targets Susquehanna Valley commuters. The Challenge starts tomorrow and officially continues through September 30 and asks people to carpool or use public transportation at least ten times in those 22 weeks. Is that even a challenge? Ten times? Baby steps, I guess. Ambitious commuters could knock ten rides down in two weeks. If you'd like to participate, visit the Challenge website and register an account. Prizes include restaurant gift cards, free gas (oh, the irony) and more. Even though the prizes end in September, there's really no limit as to when carpooling makes sense.

[Source: PA DEP / Yahoo]

Right now, each state in the U.S. has its own laws regarding diesel engine idling, and legislation can vary greatly from state-to-state. Pennsylvania is considering creating new standards and Senate Bill 295 is currently being discussed by the House. The Department of Environmental Protection has taken a long look at the Bill and is recommending that it be made tougher.

Thomas Fidler, Deputy Secretary for Waste, Air and Radiation Management says, "The Department of Environmental Protection fully supports the concept of statewide idling restrictions to limit emissions from diesel-powered commercial vehicles. However, the department cannot support SB 295 in its current form and recommends substantive amendments to bring this legislation in line with neighboring states and better protect the public's health."

There's an entire press release worth of changes requested by the DEP, and it's pasted after the break for your reading enjoyment.

There has been talk of a continental U.S. ethanol pipeline before. Back in 2006, Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) proposed legislation on the issue, but it didn't get very far. The idea didn't die, though. This past week, Magellan Midstream Partners and Buckeye Partners announced that the two companies would begin thinking about building a 1,700-mile pipeline across half the continent to bring ethanol from the corn states of Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and South Dakota to Pennsylvania and New York. The idea, the companies said, is to bring up to 10 million gallons of the biofuel "safely and efficiently" to the Northeast every day. How much would this cost? The companies estimate $3 billion and "several years," but more details will be forthcoming after Magellan and Buckeye Partners finish a feasibility study later this year. For his part, Senator Harkin is still very much in favor of a pipeline.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention this pipeline story as well.

[Source: Magellan]

Penn State University has really been on a green roll these last few days, getting three stories featured on our site. One had to do with a novel way to extract hydrogen from water using nanotechnology and sunlight and the second had to do with using coal and papermaking waste to make a liquid fuel. This third story again has to do with coal-based liquid fuels. Instead of looking at paper mills as potential sources for products to add to coal, they are looking to existing fuel refineries. They believe that many different fuels, including jet fuel, gasoline substitutes and diesel substitutes, can be made from coal if you add the correct refinery by-products. Penn State researchers have been working on this idea for a while now, first focusing solely on jet fuel. But, they found that while making the jet fuel they also ended up with certain amounts of fuel oil, diesel fuel and gasoline as co-products.

The refinery by-products of coal tar, refinery solvent and decant oil are being mixed with coal in different fractions. Fuel-grade coke, which is a fuel used in the steel industry, has also been used. Penn State should be familiar with the steel industry being that Pennsylvania is known as the steel capital of the U.S. (and hence the Pittsburgh Steelers football team). No mention was made of the emissions of these various fuels, so we are not suggesting that these are green fuels in any way. In fact, they are almost assuredly not green in any way. None of that means that the fuels will not be used, of course. Hopefully, the nation and the world will be on to bigger and better things by then!

[Source: Penn State]

Everyone thinks of California as the hotbed of green car legislation, and Cali does have a lot going on there (like the Santa Monica expo), but Pennsylvania is no slouch in the alternative fuel department. We've covered a lot of stories from the Quaker State (other, now slightly ironic nicknames for Pennsylvania: The Coal State, The Oil State) and the news just keeps on coming. Yesterday, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell announced Alternative Fuel Incentive Grants worth $3 million. The goal, as always, is to "stimulate the production, distribution and use of biofuels made in Pennsylvania."

If you're interested in this story, I recommend you click through the jump and read all the details, but the short version is that grants will go to organizations that will be paying more to shift to biofuels. The city of Pittsburgh, for example, got $303,675 to buy 1.2 million gallons of biodiesel and build biodiesel storage tanks.

Related:

• Pennsylvania governor announces Biofuels Leadership Awards, looks to China
• Iceland to Philadelphia - care for a piece of our hydrogen economy?
• Pennsylvanians can still get $500 hybrid rebate from the state

[Source: Pennsylvania Office of the Governor]

U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who is up for reelection, and his opponent, state treasurer Bob Casey, recently answered questions on their views on environmental issues. When asked about the Bush administration's attempts to improve fuel economy standards, Casey replied that both the president and Senator Santorum's improvements would have '...little to no effect on improving fuel economy, reducing consumption and reducing emissions.' The senator states he is still open to any changes in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards though wants the automakers to be more involved in the decision making process.

Other questions and the men's replies can be found at the link. We felt confused at the above responses but especially Senator Santorum, who previously opposed government involved in the CAFE standards. Analysts are still divided over the recent CAFÉ changes though agree they will increase costs to the automakers.

Related:

• Senators harp on Detroit for not providing better fuel economy, push for tougher CAFE standards

[Source: Associated Press via phillyBurbs]