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Spotsy's 'green' buses could be greener still

Spotsy's 'green' buses could be greener still

Date published: 9/18/2009

I read the article about the four propane buses that the Spotsylvania School Board was acquiring and its proclamation of a "green initiative" ["Spotsylvania orders propane-powered buses," Sept. 8].

If the School Board wanted to really have a green initiative and in the long run save us taxpayers some green as well, it could convert a number of its buses to natural gas, which is considerably cheaper than propane.

Diesel engines can be converted fairly easily, and the conversion is not too expensive. The last time I checked, it was about $6,000 per vehicle.

I would think that with our governor's help, it would be an easy task to get a federal grant for this.

A refueling station could be set up at the county garage at a very reasonable cost. In fact, the county could have a much larger initiative and convert some of its vehicles as well as purchase some new natural-gas Honda Civics.

Engines running on natural gas tend to last longer and require less maintenance in the way of tune-ups. The savings to the county would be even greater when the economy rebounds and the price for gasoline and diesel goes back up.

The School Board ought to look at installing some solar panels on some of the schools and using geothermal heat pumps in schools that do not have access to natural gas for heating.

These newer-technology geothermal systems also can heat water very efficiently.

I'm sure some of our Ph.D.s on the board could put together some federal grant requests that could really do some good for the taxpayers of Spotsylvania County and for the environment.

Larry J. Ottolini

Mineral

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Date published: 9/18/2009