The propane industry wants to sell the public on propane-powered vehicles with a display and test drives at the State Fairgrounds.
The Propane Education & Research Council today is letting the public try out a pickup truck, school bus, platform truck and lawnmower -- all fueled with propane.
The trade group says that propane-fueled vehicles reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 19 percent over gasoline. The propane industry is hoping to capitalize on the growing interest in alternative-fuel cars that are powered by ethanol, biodiesel, natural gas and electricity.
In the past year, a number of groups have displayed alt-fuel cars in the Triangle and across the state.
Combustion engine vehicles can be retrofitted to run on propane with a kit that costs about $8,000. The mowers cost slightly more than a gasoline cutters.
The public display will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the State Fairgrounds' Exposition Center, accessible by Gate 11 off Blue Ridge Road.
John Murawski has been a full-time newspaper reporter since 1991, with stints at Legal Times and The Chronicle of Philanthropy (both in Washington, DC), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Palm Beach Post (in South Florida) before arriving at the N&O in December 2004. At the N&O he covers energy (nuclear, coal, renewable, efficiency), hydralic fracturing (or "fracking"), public utilities (both electric and natural gas) and health care. His beat includes Progress Energy, PSNC Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, PowerSecure International, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Biogen Idec and others. You can reach him at 919-829-8932 or