‘P’ is for propane

Teaching educators about the benefits of propane-powered school buses can a rewarding experience for a propane marketer. The enrichment can be further enhanced when the retailer also assists the districts in obtaining government grants to cover all the costs.

That’s exactly what they did last year at Delta Liquid Energy of Paso Robles, Calif. Five brand new yellow Bluebird buses equipped with General Motors 8.1-liter, 496 cubic-inch propane-burning engines now grace the motor pools of several area school districts.

“We went around and talked to all the government agencies and got 100 percent government funding,” says Jonathan Bogart, director of Delta’s alternative fuels program. Company president William Platz has championed propane’s role as a non-polluting, commercially viable motor fuel for more than 20 years.

“We did it as an industry advocate,” Bogart says of the concentrated effort needed to obtain the money required to buy each of the $80,000 vehicles. Each district’s transportation director was contacted and an appointment requested.

According to the EPA, only 130 school districts in 17 states use cleaner, alternative-fueled school buses. More than 440,000 buses used nationally are overage diesel vehicles.

“We just went and talked to them about it,” he recounts. It gave them the confidence to go ahead with the propane bus.”

The availability of funding made it an easy sale. The process was also helped along by a $250,000 state infrastructure grant for construction of 13 CleanFUEL USA propane filling stations throughout the Golden State.

The San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control Districts along with The California Energy Commission funded the purchases with $12 million provided under the Low Emission School Bus Program. Through the program, school districts applied for grants that paid for 75 percent of the cost of new lower-emission school buses.

Local air districts funded the remaining 25 percent of the cost. The Lucia Mar, Blochman and Orcutt school districts all received new buses through this program.

“The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District is pleased to work with the state and with businesses and schools to fund school buses that are up to 75 percent cleaner than the buses they are replacing,” says air quality engineer Ray McCaffrey, referring to the old diesel buses that are now off the road. “These efforts will help many children breathe cleaner air and develop healthier lungs.”

Randy Price of the Lucia Mar School District in Arroyo Grande, Calif.points out the features of its new propane-powered school bus.

Delta provided free training for the bus drivers, showing them how to fuel and safely operate the new vehicles. They also invited the news media to observe the sessions and generate publicity of propane’s benefits.

The access cards for the CleanFUEL USA automated stations also were provided by Delta to the schools. Bogart says the educators were eager to learn that suitable amounts propane would be available for keeping the buses rolling. “When they take a field trip they’ll have fueling all throughout the state.”

The endeavor thus far appears to be making the grade — earning an A-plus from all the principals involved. “The school districts that we sold the propane school buses to all want more,” Bogart reports.