7 reasons America’s school districts are turning to propane autogas

Imagine a line of buses waiting to take hundreds of children home after a long school day. They’re lined up out front of the school, idling because it’s cold outside and the drivers want to make sure they’re warm and toasty for the kids. Because these particular buses run on diesel, when the children emerge from the buildings with their coats and backpacks they walk into a cloud of dirty exhaust – noxious fumes containing carbon monoxide, benzene, and other Persistent Organic Pollutants.

That experience certainly isn’t healthy for your children, and that’s not even considering what it’s doing to our environment. Diesel fuel – even so called “clean diesel” – is a significant contributor of the greenhouse gases that are so harmful to our environment.

With those factors in mind, it’s no wonder that school administrators, fleet managers, and parents across the country are looking for a reasonable alternative – one that’s practical, safe, and cost-effective. And increasingly, the solution they’re discovering is propane autogas.

Why propane autogas?

1. Propane autogas is proven. Propane autogas isn’t new to the market. Indeed, it’s the world’s most relied upon alternative fuel running more than 27 million vehicles of all shapes and sizes around the globe. Here in America, large commercial fleets have been relying on it for years for all kinds of applications – from heavy trucks delivering food to mower fleets and everything in between.
2. Propane autogas is clean. Environmentally conscious communities have long looked to propane autogas because it’s clean burning. A certified green fuel, propane autogas offers significant advantages over conventional gasoline, including:
   • 24% reduction in greenhouse gas
   • 20% reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx)
   • 60% reduction in carbon monoxide (CO)
   • Propane autogas is so clean-burning that thousands of warehouses and businesses across the country run their forklift fleets on it INDOORS.
3. Propane autogas is abundant and produced in America. Approximately 98% of all propane is produced right here in the United States. In fact, due to the abundance of propane, the U.S. actually exports billions of gallons to countries all around the world. When you choose propane autogas, you’re also choosing American jobs.
4. Propane autogas is safe. In addition to being friendly to the air you and your children breathe, propane is safe to handle – as is its infrastructure. Despite what you see in action movies, propane autogas fuel tanks are 20x more puncture resistant than traditional gasoline/diesel fuel tanks. They operate at a much lower pressure than compressed natural gas (CNG), have the narrowest flammability range among alternative fuels, and a significantly higher ignition temperature than traditional fuels.
5. Propane autogas is powerful and flexible. The (much cleaner) sky is the limit for propane autogas vehicles. Because manufacturers like BlueBird, Thomas, IC Bus, and Collins offer propane autogas options, the right configuration for your bus fleet is available – all without sacrificing any torque, range, or horsepower.
6. Propane autogas is reliable. Ferrellgas is a nationwide supplier of retail propane with hundreds of thousands of residential, business, and agricultural customers from coast to coast. We’re America’s premier propane provider with more than 80 years of experience. And better than that, we’re one of America’s pioneers in propane autogas. We are a trusted partner to hundreds of school districts across the nation who not only rely on us to deliver the fuel they need, but also to provide good advice and hands-on knowledge for their transition away from diesel.
7. Propane autogas is easy. Unlike other alternative fuels, propane autogas is pretty much what you and your drivers are used to. There is a minimum of training to get up and running, the infrastructure is familiar to anyone who has fueled a vehicle with diesel or traditional gasoline, and it’s much faster to fuel than CNG – meaning your buses are on the road, not at the pump.

Imagine that same line of buses you pictured before, only this time they’re clean-burning propane autogas buses. This time the children that come rushing out the door aren’t greeted with benzene and carbon monoxide – but instead with warm, safe buses that make a difference in the world they’ll grow up in and to the budgets of the classrooms they just left. Propane autogas is the better choice, don’t you think?

If you’re interested in learning more about why propane autogas is the better choice for your school bus fleet, let us know.