National Parks Initiative

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) partners with the National Park Service (NPS) through the Clean Cities National Parks Initiative. The initiative supports transportation projects that educate park visitors on the benefits of shifting to affordable, domestic alternative fuels, advanced vehicles, and fuel-saving technologies and strategies. Since 2010, VTO and Clean Cities and Communities coalitions have partnered with NPS on 35 projects to put alternative fuel and fuel-efficient vehicles on the road, reduce vehicle idling, and improve vehicle efficiency. These actions support and coincide with NPS's efforts to reduce vehicle congestion, air pollution, and resource degradation, and to preserve the long-term quality of the parks.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Find a Project Great Smoky Mountains National ParkBy park...Acadia National Park Blue Ridge Parkway Cape Cod National Seashore Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site Catoctin Mountain Park Cedar Breaks National Monument Christiansted National Historic Site Denali National Park and Preserve Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument Golden Gate National Recreation Area Grand Teton National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park Independence National Historical Park Mammoth Cave National Park Mesa Verde National Park Mississippi National River and Recreation Area National Mall and Memorial Parks Nicodemus National Historic Site Pea Ridge National Military Park Petrified Forest National Park Petroglyph National Monument Pipe Spring National Monument Point Reyes National Seashore Rocky Mountain National Park Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Scotts Bluff National Monument Shenandoah National Park Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Wilson's Creek National Battlefield Yellowstone National Park Zion National Park

Fall colors are reflected outside of Noah "Bud" Ogle's log house, a historic homestead built in in the late 19th-century. Courtesy of NPS

Great Smoky Mountains National Park worked with East Tennessee Clean Fuels and the Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition to shift to domestic fuels and advanced vehicle technologies. In 2013, the park replaced three gasoline pickup trucks with all-electric vehicles, converted five gasoline mowers to operate on propane, and installed four publicly accessible electric vehicle charging stations. In 2015, the park added four propane pickup trucks and installed two propane refueling stations. These activities are estimated to help the park reduce its annual emissions by almost 40 million tons of CO₂ and displace the use of nearly 8,900 gasoline-gallon equivalents of petroleum per year.

See how the Clean Cities National Parks Initiative supports parks transportation projects.

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