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Projects Updates for Develop Scenarios for Converting the UI Fleet to Renewable Fuels
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CNG notes from Pete Varney
Associated Project(s):1. Would the University be willing to convert some of their vehicle fleet to CNG? If so, how many?
a. The fleet is managed at the department/college level. Each unit purchases their own vehicles. F&S would be a prime entity willing to acquire CNG vehicles as part of a normal replacement cycle. Perhaps 8-12 vehicles annually.
2. What are the pros and cons of using CNG in campus trucks vs cars?
a. The use of CNG is more focused on how the vehicle is used rather than type. Most “cars” are used for travel out of the local area where CNG fueling would pose challenges. Most F&S “trucks” are exclusively used on campus where CNG fueling would be centralized
April 21st, 2017 Meeting
Associated Project(s):Meeting Minutes 4/21/17
In attendance:
Ximing Cai
Pete Varney
Brian Farber
Yanfeng Ouyang
Summary:
This meeting serve to continue discussion on campus fleet, bike parking, and campus parking. Also, Ximing Cai was introduced to the team.
Topics:
Discussion on Campus Fleet
Pete led a discussion on campus fleet efforts. He stated that converting campus fleet to EVs and CNG vehicles would have a large effect on campus emissions, and that campus utility is interested in learning about electric vehicles, but there are certain obstacles to converting campus fleet. First it would cost about half a million dollars or more. These costs are largely attribute to building infrastructure for CNG refueling systems. In addition, campus fleet vehicles for Facilities and Services as well as housing do not drive very far, so the fuel savings would be small. However, converting campus fleet would be practical as the vehicles do not travel off campus, meaning there will be no inconvenience in refueling the vehicles.
Bike Parking
We continued our discussion on bike parking from the last meeting. One of our concerns, given the cost of the permits, is security. Anyone who is paying for a permit must be certain that there bike is secure. We might want to have security cameras.
Parking
We discussed efforts to encourage less driving through parking incentives. Pete suggested having a passenger-car-free campus zone by placing parking outside of certain zones of campus. This idea was well received by the group and generally liked. However, we discussed challenges to any parking changes. We discussed specific proposals to adjust parking prices, shown here:
- Try to price people out of parking and mitigate this by reducing the price at other locations
- Allow flexible payment in percentage of salary
- Have and “auction” in which whoever pays the largest percent of their salary gets the closest location.
- Remove or lift parking cap so that wealthier parkers pay more and thus provide more revenue
- Have a private company raise rates on parking
Then, we discussed challenges to these proposals:
- Parking is important to unions – any changes may result in strikes or political conflict
- The sentiment of Parking and Campus master plan does not necessarily agree with people parking farther away – an objective that would be achieved through a passenger-car-free zone
- Hiring private company likely not a good idea – their primary motivation is profit
- City of Champaign changed parking ordinances so that spaces at churches, fraternities, etc, decrease
Our next meeting is TBD.
September 9th, 2016 Meeting
Associated Project(s):9/09/16
Summary: This meeting was our inaugural meeting for the year. On the agenda today was the creation of a team description, a review of ongoing projects, and planning for future meetings.
In attendance:
Josh Feldman
Claire Dondival
Ankit Singhai
Yangfeng Ouyang
Pete Varney
Lily Wilcox - Active Transportation Coordinator
Olivia Webb - Sustainability Programs Coordinator
Topics Covered:
Team Description
We collectively crafted our team description for the iCAP portal, which can be found at: https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/transportation-swateam.
Project Slides
Renewable Fleet Study:
Claire and Petehelped foster a discussion about the current types of alternative fuels for campus fleet vehicles. Currently, natural gas is the only type of fuel seriously looked at. One concern was that the gas CNG, while possible to implement, would be somewhat costly and have little payback unless driven many miles. Electric vehicles were brought up, but are currently not part of the market. Biodiesel was also mentioned, but its performance in cold weather is a concern.
Staff Mode Shift:
Lily discussed the ways that this project will reduce single occupancy vehicles. One idea looked at was bike sharing, which has been tried by Purdue but does not have much payback economically. Lily also discussed “It’s your MTD too”, which features social bus-riding trips which introduce MTD to campus employees.
Bike Plan:
This was a summary of effort to make campus more bike-friendly. This would include having more, and better, bike parking. UIUC was recently recognized as a bronze-level Bike Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists.
Future Meetings
We decided that every other Friday at 1pm is a good time to hold meetings. We will be holding meetings in the National Soybean Research Laboratory. Our clerk Josh will send out reminders.
Attached Files:Jul 9 2015 Minutes
Associated Project(s):see file
Several SWATeam recommendations were discussed. Also, an update from the Sustainability Council was provided:
"Review of Council Meeting/Status of iCAP Approval - The Sustainability Council meeting went very well with lots of good discussion. There were not too many serious objections to the iCAP. They would like to see financial information, such as cost-benefit analysis on projects. This information will be included in the study for accelerating our carbon neutrality date. The cover letter from the Chancellor affirming our commitment will include language about the current fiscal climate in Illinois. The Chancellor was keen to be able to reach carbon neutrality by 2035. Other concerns were in regard to the net zero space item and they suggested a space audit be included in the iCAP."
Attached Files:iCAP Working Group Agenda for 4/2/2015
Associated Project(s):Dear iCAP Working Group Members,
As a reminder, we will be meeting this Thursday at 1:30 (and also next Thursday, 4/9, at 1:30).
This week we will discuss the timeline for completing our work on the iCAP, and then turn our attention to the 7 attached formal recommendations we've received from the Transportation and Purchasing, Waste, and Recycling SWATeams. Please review these in advance of the meeting, so that we can discuss them most efficiently. If you will not be able to join us due to a schedule conflict, please email me in advance if you have any particular concerns.
Next week (4/9), we'll be joined by Kent Reifsteck and Mike Larson from F&S, and also Scott Willenbrock from the Energy Generation SWATeam, so that we can discuss what the iCAP should say about charting a pathway for clean energy for our campus.
Thanks,
Ben
Professor Benjamin J. McCall
Associate Director for Campus Sustainability Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus-sustainability@illinois.edu
April 2 2015 minutes
Associated Project(s):see file
Several recommendations were discussed from the Transportation SWATeam and the Puchasing, Waste, and Recycling SWATeam.
Attached Files: