9 November 2012: The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has launched a new tool and Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) website to help decision-makers select alternative fuels and energy efficiency strategies for reducing petroleum use, vehicle emissions and operating costs.

The Petroleum Reduction Planning Tool is an online application that allows fleet managers and other decision-makers to evaluate the benefits of various energy efficiency measures and five alternative fuels: biodiesel, electricity, ethanol, natural gas and propane.

The application is available on the redesigned AFDC website, which provides tools, data and information to sustainable transportation decision-makers. The new site contains a collection of case studies in alternative transportation deployment and a library of customizable maps and data on a range of topics, including alternative fuel use trends, driving habits, hybrid vehicle availability, biofuels production, transportation regulations and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The AFDC site also offers an updated Alternative Fueling Station Locator, identifying stations that offer electric vehicle charging, E85, biodiesel, natural gas, propane and hydrogen. The application is designed to allow users to sort by fuel type, find all stations near a given location, and locate stations along a given route. [NREL Press Release]