Today, Florida is one of just three states east of the Mississippi River meeting all federal standards for clean air. To guarantee clean air for Florida's communities, reduce Florida’s reliance on foreign oil and diversify the economy, Florida is leading the charge to be at the forefront on the energy revolution.

Over the last 15 years, Florida’s population increased more than 30 percent – growing by more than 1000 residents per day and accompanied by a growing demand for mobility. Currently, the consumption of motor vehicle fuel in Florida tops 28 million gallons per day and is expected to increase to more than 32.3 million gallons per day during the next decade.

However, Florida is committed to increasing the number of clean vehicles on the road by purchasing alternative fuel and clean energy vehicles for its fleets reducing dependence on conventional fuel.

• More than 22 percent of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) fleet of clean energy transportation is comprised of 90 hybrid vehicles and more than 300 alternative fuel vehicles that use combinations of fuel, ethanol and electricity products.
• More than 27 percent of the Florida Department of Transportation’s (DOT) passenger fleet is of clean energy transportation and it is comprised of 3 hybrid electric vehicles and more than 798 alternative fuel vehicles that use combinations of fuel, ethanol, Compress Natural Gas (CNG), and Propane.

Public use of clean vehicles has increased dramatically. Nationally, there were 199,148 U.S. registrations for passenger hybrid vehicles last year — 139 percent increase from 2004. And among the top 10 hybrid states, Florida had the second largest number of new hybrid registrations.

Biofuels

As the need for alternative energy continues to grow, Florida is promoting such commercially viable options as biodiesel and ethanol to meet consumer desire for more environmentally responsible products.

Ethanol Plant Launched in Tampa

On June 19, 2006, Governor Bush joined top officials with US EnviroFuels LLC to launch the company’s new ethanol production facility in Port Sutton. This ethanol facility will produce a fuel additive derived from agricultural products that limits the amount of gasoline a vehicle consumes, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases released into the air.

Upon completion, the Port Sutton plant is expected to produce an estimated 40 million gallons of fuel grade ethanol per year. Production will include grain unloading, storage, milling, fermentation, distillation and drying. Grain will be delivered by rail or truck, and ethanol will be distributed by rail, truck or barge. The company is scheduled to break ground in August and begin operating in October 2007

E85 Ethanol Comes to Tallahassee

In September 2006, Governor Jeb Bush and Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Colleen M. Castille joined executives from General Motors and Inland Food Stores to open the first public E85 ethanol pump in Florida. Located in Tallahassee, the pump is the first of 17 ethanol pumps to be installed by Inland Food Stores in North Florida during the next eight months.

As part of the announcement, General Motors will promote the availability of ethanol fuel with dealers and the thousands of consumers with FlexFuel vehicles in the Tallahassee region. E85 FlexFuel vehicles can run on any combination of gasoline including E85, a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The use of E85 can contribute to energy independence by diversifying the source of transportation fuels beyond petroleum, and it provides positive environmental benefits in the form of reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

BioDiesel

The Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Greenways & Trails is pumping biodiesel, a new “green” fuel made from homegrown vegetables, vegetable oil, fats and grease into its fleet of field trucks. The field vehicles tow tractors and heavy-duty maintenance equipment over the rugged terrain of the 110-mile Cross Florida Greenway and paved highways. The average vehicle travels over 300 miles a week.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture, biodiesel yields 280 percent more energy than petroleum diesel fuel, while producing 47 percent lower exhaust emissions. Biodiesel is less combustible than petroleum diesel, as harmless as table salt and as biodegradable as sugar.