We’re breaking through. Propane autogas is garnering customers among fleets large and small, creating a buzz in the alternative fuel market and with fleet managers. And when Dish Network, the Fortune 500 satellite TV provider, announced in the PERC booth at the Work Truck Show in March that it would begin operating 200 Roush CleanTech Ford E-250 propane-autogas cargo vans, national media outlets were listening. Dish said it could save as much as $2,500 per vehicle annually on fuel costs by switching from gasoline to propane autogas. Those numbers got attention. The Reuters news service heard a good story and …
Author Archives: Roy
A World Without Energy
It’s hard to imagine a world without energy. We live in an age of plentiful energy. Yet, humor me; what would a world without energy be like? Imagine you are on a cruise ship in the middle of a vast sea. Suddenly, the power goes out. You’re in the dark, bobbing up and down with the waves. Your little paradise is now the last place you want to be, but you’ve got no energy to go anywhere else. You’re stuck. It’s hot outside; after all, you took the cruise to escape the winter chill. There is no air conditioning, and …
A Hot Mess
We’ve got a hot mess on our hands. Read this from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: “The globally-averaged temperature for 2012 marked the 10th warmest year since record keeping began in 1880. It also marked the 36th consecutive year with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The last below-average annual temperature was 1976. Including 2012, all 12 years to date in the 21st century (2001–2012) rank among the 14 warmest in the 133-year period of record. Only one year during the 20st century—1998—was warmer than 2012.” 1998 was the year I started working at PERC, and in …
Keep Safety First
The New Year began with propane in the news, and a reminder to put safety first. In early December ESPN reporter Hannah Storm was injured while re-lighting her propane grill. Fortunately, her burns while severe were not more serious. She was back on the air covering the Rose Parade and next week will see the football team from her alma mater Notre Dame take on the Alabama Crimson Tide for the BCS National Championship. We are thankful that she is recovering, and that she would share her story with the public. There are literally tens of millions of propane grills …