Petroleum consumption at Carolina has fallen 18 percent since FY 2005. In FY 2008, Facilities Services installed a 4,000-gallon tank to store an 85 percent ethanol/15 percent gasoline blend (E85). Now one pump at the fuel station dispenses E85 and the other dispenses E10, a blend of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol. The University owns 113 flex-fuel trucks and cargo vans that can run on either gasoline or E-85 fuel, and leases another 167 flex-fuel passenger cars from N.C.’s Motor Fleet Management. When fueling up on campus, all 280 flex-fuel vehicles run exclusively on E-85 fuel.
Increased consumption of 20 percent biodiesel fuel, and switching to synthetic motor oil, have also contributed to the decline in petroleum use. The Point to Point bus fleet that circulates around campus at night runs on B20 fuel and is funded through the student transit fee.
Purchasing more fuel efficient vehicles, incorporating 19 street-legal electric vehicles into the housekeeping, grounds, and maintenance fleets, and relying more on “zone shops” also resulted in savings. Zone shops are distributed strategically across campus and reduce travel back and forth to Facilities Services’ main complex for both parts and personnel.
Not purchasing vehicles also reduces costs and environmental impacts. In addition to Motor Pool vehicles available to departments and organizations, the ZipCar on-demand car rental program is now self-supporting and includes 735 individual and three dozen departmental members with 5 cars located across campus.
Links:
Point to Point - http://www.dps.unc.edu/Transit/campustransit/p2p/p2p.cfm
Motor Pool - http://www.fac.unc.edu/
ZipCar - http://www.dps.unc.edu/Transit/campustransit/zipcar/zipcar.pdf