Argonne Rolls Out New Version of Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Analysis Tool
by Katie Elyce Jones (Argonne National Laboratory) Despite the potential benefits, being one of the first businesses or individuals to embrace a new product or technology can be daunting. That’s why the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory this week is releasing an updated version of its AFLEET tool to reflect the latest advances in alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technologies and updated emissions data.
Sponsored by the DOE Clean Cities program, AFLEET stands for the Alternative Fuel Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Transportation Tool. The free, publicly available tool provides users with a roadmap for assessing which types of vehicles and fuels are right for them. The 2016 AFLEET Tool and user guide are available online. Although anyone can download and use the tool, AFLEET was designed for managers that purchase and maintain a fleet of vehicles.
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The latest version includes, for the first time: gaseous hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, state-based (rather than national-based) fuel pricing, private station fuel pricing and fueling infrastructure costs. Updates to existing inputs include new light-duty vehicle costs; vehicle air pollutant emission factors derived from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions modeling system, MOVES 2014a; and petroleum use and greenhouse gas and relative air pollutant emissions from the 2015 GREET model, Argonne’s leading fuel life-cycle analysis model that is now in its twentieth year.
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“There really isn’t a tool out there to look at alternative fuels and advanced vehicles in this way,” said Andrew Burnham, Argonne principal environmental scientist. “We’re bringing the unique expertise Argonne has in vehicle and fuel life-cycle analysis to provide environmental information like petroleum use and greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions, as well as cost analysis, so users have as much information as possible.” READ MORE