Columbus, Ga. Sheriff's Office Celebrates Adoption of Alternative Fuels with Vehicle and Facility Tour

COLUMBUS, Ga., Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Muscogee County Sheriff's Office is hosting a media event to celebrate its transition to clean alternative fueling. The tour will feature the county's new propane Autogas vehicles and newly implemented propane Autogas fueling station. The Sheriff's Office will give a propane Autogas fueling demonstration, offer visitors the opportunity to look under the hood of a propane Autogas vehicle, and provide information about the impact this alternative fuel will have on the community.

Muscogee County is converting 20 sheriff's vehicles from gasoline to propane Autogas as part of the Southeast Propane Autogas Development Program, an ARRA-funded alternative fuel project that will upfit a total of about 1,200 vehicles from Washington, DC to Louisiana. Currently, the county has 16 vehicles running on propane Autogas. The Sheriff's Office also plans to convert additional vehicles to Autogas beyond those funded through the grant Program as part of their alternative fuel initiative.

"We had been exploring alternatives to gasoline, and the opportunity to participate in this Program came at the perfect time and allowed us to jumpstart our clean fuel program," says Muscogee County Sheriff John Darr. "Using propane Autogas in our Sheriff's vehicles is beneficial for our community – it reduces harmful emissions, it's domestically produced, and it's going to save our county money on fuel costs."

The vehicle and facility tour will be held today, October 22 at 12:30 p.m. at 1011 Cusseta Road, Columbus, Ga. The event is open press, and local environmental, automotive and economic development organizations are encouraged to attend. Please contact Lt. Gifford Anthony at the Sheriff's Office at (706) 653-4225 if you would like to attend or learn more about the event.

Propane Autogas is the third most widely used fuel in the world, behind only gasoline and diesel. Yet with more than 14.6 million propane Autogas vehicles in the world, the United States drives less than 2 percent of them. "Alternative fuels are an undeniable part of the nation's future, and at Muscogee County we are excited to be a part of that evolution now," Sheriff Darr adds.

Force 911, a full-service law enforcement vehicle outfitter and a certified conversion center for the Program, is performing the vehicle conversions for Muscogee County. Alliance AutoGas – with founding partners Blossman Gas (the largest independent propane supply company in the nation) and American Alternative Fuel (alternative fuel vehicle systems specialists) – is training technicians to perform the vehicle conversions for the Program, installing the refueling stations and supplying the propane Autogas fuel.

The Program

The Southeast Propane Autogas Development Program is supported by funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities Program. The program is managed and administered by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and Virginia Clean Cities at James Madison University. The project includes partnerships throughout the Southeast – from Maryland to Florida to Louisiana – including public and private fleet organizations, non-profits, government stakeholders, and several major alternative energy and manufacturing companies in the alternative fuel market. To learn more visit www.usepropaneautogas.com or contact Lauren Scott at [email protected] or (512) 524-5456.

SOURCE Virginia Clean Cities