SANTA FE - Cutting greenhouse emissions from transportation means encouraging drivers to invest in cars and trucks powered by electricity, natural gas or other alternatives to petroleum.
That means drivers need to be able refuel or recharge their vehicles away from home, and to be able to plan routes for longer trips knowing they won't be left stranded.
A Federal Highway Administration program helps federal, state and local governments and private companies plan and build an interstate network of alternative fuel stations, then promote and brand them so commercial and passenger vehicle drivers can locate them.
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Until recently, New Mexico was one of just four states not yet participating in the program, but Wednesday morning the state's Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department announced that the FHA has designated New Mexico's first alternative fuel corridors.
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Federal designations exist for electric, hydrogen, propane and natural gas stations, with different criteria for each fuel.
The FHA requires that electric charging facilities be established at 50-mile intervals along a designated corridor, for instance, or 100-mile intervals for hydrogen, 150-mile intervals for propane or compressed natural gas, and 200-mile intervals for liquefied natural gas.
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Prior to New Mexico's inclusion, the FHA said the program had designated 135,000 miles along the national highway system as alternative fuel corridors, touching 46 states.
Now, areas of Interstates 25 and 10 through New Mexico — as well as U.S. highways 70 and 285 — will be listed as alternative fuel locations, with distinctive blue signs marking the routes to assist travelers in locating facilities.
“The transportation sector is a major source of New Mexico’s greenhouse gas emissions, so facilitating electric vehicle travel is a key part of our climate strategy,” EMNRD Secretary Sarah Cottrell Propst stated in a press release.
The inclusion of New Mexico helps fill a gap in alternative fuel corridors in the southwest, between high concentrations in southern California and the Phoenix, Arizona area to the west and another high concentration in the region including Dallas, Texas.
State Transportation Secretary Michael Sandoval said the corridor designations would expand "to further decrease vehicle emissions while helping the traveling public move in and through New Mexico.”
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Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.
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Cleaner fuel on the map: New Mexico establishes alternative fuel corridors - Las Cruces Sun-News
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