FOR RELEASE JUNE 10, 1996
The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory will have a high profile at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta this summer. Pay close attention to your television sets and you may get a glimpse of one of the INEL's familiar yellow and gray buses.
Four buses will be used to transport representatives of the NBC News crew as they travel throughout the Olympic Village in Atlanta covering the world-wide event.
On June 6, representatives with Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies (manager and operator of the INEL for the Department of Energy) entered into an agreement with the American Gas Association. The AGA is working with the Olympic Committee to provide natural gas buses for the event.
Communications on the project began last fall. Since the INEL is becoming known for its natural gas fleet, discussions centered on the possibility of using the Site buses at the Olympics.
Kevin Brown and Kirt Bullock, supervisors for transportation at the INEL, attended meetings with the AGA in Atlanta. "Atlanta is a non-attainment area (they have a high pollution level), and their plan is to use alternative fueled vehicles in the downtown area," Brown said. To accomplish this, the Olympic Circle will be open only to bus transportation. These vehicles are cleaner and do not emit exhaust to pollute the environment. Private vehicles will not be allowed in downtown Atlanta during the Olympics.
Natural gas vehicles will be used to transport athletes, media and spectators to the events. "It will operate similar to a park-and-ride," Brown said.
The four INEL buses will be used specifically for the NBC News crew. The buses will be transported by rail in late June to Atlanta. "There is no filling station between here and there. However, a refueling station is available in Atlanta," Brown said.
"The same buses you see on our neighborhood streets will be seen in Atlanta -- complete with INEL letters in full view," Brown said. A few minor changes may be made, such as having the Olympic symbol displayed in the rear window along with DOE and Lockheed Martin Idaho emblems.
The INEL buses are unique because they are the first to operate intra-state. Currently one natural gas bus is used to transport workers from Pocatello to the Site -- 80 miles away. "There are a number of natural gas buses that are used around the country, but those buses are only used within the city," Brown said. "Once all the buses return from Atlanta, we will use them to transport workers from Idaho Falls to the Site -- about 50 miles away," Brown said.
"This is exciting for us because this is the fuel of the future and the INEL is in the lead of the technology," he said.
For more than a year, the INEL has been converting some of its fleet vehicles to natural gas.
In 1995, the INEL and Detroit Diesel signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement that provided alternate fuel vehicles to the laboratory's fleet.
Under the CRADA, Detroit Diesel converted one of the INEL buses from diesel to liquified natural gas late last year. Now, six of the 126 fleet buses have been converted.
This project was prompted by an executive order from DOE that called for vehicles to use an alternative fuel source rather than diesel.
Since 1990, legislation has been passed requiring the U.S. government to start acquiring alternative fuel vehicles in federal fleets. These initiatives come from two directions: the move to cut U.S. dependency on foreign oil imports, and a push for using cleaner-burning fuel to improve air quality.
Natural gas (methane) was chosen as the alternative fuel of choice for the INEL because of its many attributes: it is readily and nationally available, provides greater safety compared to other alternate fuels, is environmentally friendly, high in octane, produced domestically and an economically sound fuel choice for the future.
-- INEL --
Media contact: Isabel Valle, (208) 526-9906
96-51