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Transportation

NREL provides sustainable transportation options for its employees on-site as well as off-site. Efforts in this area focus on:

  • Opportunities with the laboratory fleet
  • Promoting alternative modes of commuting

    • Laboratory Fleet

    Since 1997, NREL has made a major commitment to the use of bio-based fuels in its fleet. Forty-three percent, or 20 vehicles out of the 47 fleet vehicles are fueled by E85. The fleet used 10,384 gallons of E85 in FY05, almost 73% of the total fleet usage of 15,242 gallons of total gas and equivalent fuel. NREL is also actively exploring the use of biodiesel. NREL is piloting B20 (20% biodiesel) fuel use in several of its large, diesel-powered vehicles.

    A chart that shows NREL's fleet petroleum use from fiscal year 1999 to 2005. NREL's fleet vehicles used 12,250 gallons of petroleum in fiscal year 1999, 11,700 gallons of petroleum in fiscal year 2000, 9,970 gallons of petroleum in fiscal year 2001, 10,540 gallons of petroluem in fiscal year 2002, 8,500 gallons of petroleum in fiscal year 2003, 7,691 gallons of petroleum in fiscal year 2004, and 7,448 gallons of petroleum in fiscal year 2005.

    For a larger view of the chart (MS Excel 16.5 MB).

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) establishes petroleum use goals for all federal fleets. NREL's annual use goal is 9,800 gallons by FY05. NREL met that goal in FY03 by using only 8,500 gallons of petroleum. In FY04, further petroleum use was further decreased to 7,691 gallons. In FY05, NREL used only 7,448 gallons of petroleum.

    NREL received a U.S. Department of Energy Pollution Prevention Star Award for Green Fleet Team: Petroleum Reduction through Alternative Fuels in FY05.

    Alternative Modes of Commuting

    Identifying and supporting employee alternative transportation opportunities are key to achieving sustainability in transportation. The NREL-sponsored programs that support the use of alternative transportation include:

    • To promote the use of alternative transportation, NREL employees receive a free EcoPass as part of their benefits package. This allows employees to use the Regional Transportation District (RTD) bus system free of charge.
    • To reduce vehicle miles traveled, NREL offers a shuttle service between buildings on the South Table Mountain and Denver West sites that uses alternative-fueled vehicles.
    • To reduce vehicle miles traveled, NREL's Alternative Work Schedule Policy allows employees to work varying schedules (with management approval), including four-day workweeks.
    A table image showing results from NREL's commuter survey. Out of the NREL employees who responded to the survey, 4% walk to work, 10% carpool, 15% ride their bikes, and 17% take the bus.

    NREL also works with The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) to provide commuting options for employees. For example, many NREL employees are part of DRCOG's numerous carpooling programs. In addition, NREL hosts a booth at DRCOG's Annual Bike to Work Day Event—a statewide campaign promoting bike riding as a viable commuting option.

    NREL also surveys its employees annually in order to collect metrics on alternative forms of employee commuting and guide the development of Laboratory transportation programs.
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