ALTERNATIVE FUELS GRANTS AWARDED IN 17^TH

HARRISBURG, OCT. 16 – State Sen. Connie Williams credited a number of local school districts and a fuel provider with advancing efforts to improve Pennsylvania's environment through the use of alternative fuels.

"Certainly it will be an adjustment for everyone to begin to move away from reliance on fossil fuels to new alternative fuels, whether that is biodiesel or other home-grown fuels, but is essential to improving Pennsylvania's environment, reducing reliance on imported oil and fostering economic development through promoting innovative energy technologies and the use of fuels that can be produced right here in Pennsylvania," Williams said.

To assist schools, municipal authorities, local and county governments and nonprofits in moving toward a greater reliance on alternative fuels, Pennsylvania offers the Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program.

Grants were awarded to the following entities in the 17^th Senatorial District:

• Colonial School District -- $35,000 to purchase 120,000 gallons of B20 per year for two years.

• Haverford Township School District -- $41,600 to utilize 200,000 gallons of B10 from July 2007 to June 2008 in a fleet of school buses and maintenance vehicles.

• Lower Merion School District -- $23,370 to use 150,000 gallons of B20 in a fleet of 43 diesel-powered vehicles.

• Radnor Township School District -- $40,000 to convert the districts buses from ULSD to biodiesel.

• Sunoco, Inc. -- $372,846 to install E85 refueling equipment at four plazas on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (impacts multiple counties, not just in the 17^th District).

The AFIG program receives about $3.4 million to $4 million annually from the General Fund.