Science and Technology for Canadians

Streaming Video - High resolution | Low resolution | RealPlayer Help

Teacher's Guide

Summary

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) currently operates over 20% of its entire fleet on cleaner burning alternative fuels, representing the highest percentage of low emission vehicles operating anywhere in the country. These vehicles produce up to 30% less C02 than their gasoline counterparts.

NRCan has been involved with alternative fuel vehicles since the 1970's and since then has been actively testing and operating the full spectrum of alternative fuel technologies including, most recently, hybrid electric and ethanol fueled vehicles. Its Fleetwise and AutoSmart programs are tailored for both the Government and Private Sectors and promote increased efficiencies from both alternative fuel use and green driving practices.

Transcript of Video

Female Voice
Twenty five percent of Natural Resources Canada's fleet vehicles run on alternative fuels. They're just a regular part of the pool that provides transportation alternatives for government employees... and they regularly give off about 30 percent less greenhouse gases.

John Robinson
Currently NRCan has over 90 alternative fuel vehicles, and we've been basically working on the alternative fuel program since the 70's. Back in the 70's and 80's, the technology was such that we could only take gasoline vehicles and convert them over to alternative fuels technology. But now the manufacturers are offering factory built vehicles with that capability, so the majority of vehicles that you see in this lot are basically purchased from the factory to operate on alternative fuel. A lot of vehicles in North America now have the capability of burning 85 percent ethanol.

Female Voice
Ethanol is basically alcohol, distilled from organic matter, stuff like wood waste or corn. E85 is an 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline blend. The higher the ratio of ethanol to gas in a fuel mix, the cleaner it burns... and the less greenhouse gas it produces.

John Robinson
The main advantages of ethanol are that it's a cleaner burning fuel. We expect when we're burning a vehicle with an 85 percent ethanol mixture to get about a 30-35 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from the tailpipe. It's essentially a liquid fuel. You dispense it the same way you do gasoline. It's stored onboard in a gasoline tank the same way you have now. And the only difference would be you'll find that it's a higher octane fuel. It gives you more horsepower and it burns cleaner.

Female Voice
E85 has a lot going for it from an environmental perspective, but has, at the moment, one major hurdle to overcome. While five and 10 percent blends of ethanol are available commercially, E85 isn't at the pumps yet. NRCan's fleet has its own supply.

John Robinson
We've set up this tank to dispense 85 percent ethanol just to demonstrate how easy a fuel it is to dispense and we think that in time we'll find more and more ethanol stations cropping up.

Female Voice
There've been alternative fuel vehicles in NRCan's fleet for decades, and there are plans to acquire more. A Government of Canada initiative 'FleetWise' calls for the increased use of alternative fuels, such as ethanol, and the phasing in of alternative fuel vehicles in federal fleets by 2005.

Earth tones is produced in co-operation with Natural Resources Canada.