The California Energy Commission (CEC) has approved more than $10 million in new grants for four alternative fuel projects.
The CEC is awarding the grants under its ongoing Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP). According to the commission, the program provides funding for innovative transportation and fuel technologies that help California meet its energy, clean-air and climate-change goals.
The latest grants include the following:
– $2.9 million to CALSTART Inc. to build and test four 33-foot battery-electric buses in Los Angeles;
– $2.8 million to Motiv Power Systems Inc. to build and test large, battery-electric school buses in Reedley, Colton and Los Angeles; and
– $2.6 million to Hydrogenics USA Inc. for an advanced fuel-cell truck to transport containers from ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach along a 150-mile loop to a rail network, as well as $2.1 million for an advanced fuel-cell bus to be tested in the Coachella Valley.
The CEC says these clean energy, zero-emission projects will be demonstrated in economically distressed areas that may benefit from additional jobs the projects will create.
The commission has also awarded $3.6 million to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory to provide technical support for the state's Zero-Emission Vehicle Action Plan, to assess the benefits of the ARFVTP, and to review proposals for hydrogen fueling stations.
