Businesses committed to replacing older, higher carbon-producing, gas-guzzling full-size vehicles with more environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient vehicles have a lot of choices. Making the right decision is important, especially when it comes to understanding some of the new terminology and initiatives that are available. Two of these include SmartWay Certified Vehicles and carbon offsets.
   SmartWay is a program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed to promote “greener” options for all size vehicles. The program includes air pollution and greenhouse gas scores on a scale of 1 to10 for a variety of vehicles, which can be found at www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/all-rank-07.htm. 
   To earn the SmartWay designation, a vehicle must receive a rating of 6 or better on both scores and have a total score of at least 13, which is very good. Even better, vehicles that earn 9 or better on both scores receive the SmartWay Elite designation, indicating the vehicle is one of the best environmental performers.
   Carbon offset programs can be a little more difficult to understand. Basically, a “carbon offset” is a certificate representing a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, cited as the principal cause of global warming. Calculations are based on the number of gallons of gas consumed using different coefficients for regular gasoline and diesel. 
   While numbers from various sources may differ slightly, burning a gallon of regular gasoline emits 19.56 pounds of CO2 and diesel fuel emits 22.28 pounds per gallon, according to the U.S. Government Energy Information Administration at www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/coefficients.html.
   There are hundreds of different types of carbon reduction projects. For example, a wind farm generates clean energy, which reduces carbon emissions from coal-burning power plants. In order to finance its operations, a wind farm can sell these reductions in the form of carbon offsets. 
   Every ton of carbon dioxide emissions reduced in a project results in the creation of one carbon offset. These offsets can then be sold by project developers to finance their projects. 
   Enterprise Fleet Management has made a major commitment to supporting carbon offset programs. For customers who choose to purchase a carbon offset, the company will match 25 percent of each offset’s purchase price, with a $3,500 maximum per customer per year. Enterprise estimates that each year the average fleet vehicle will log 20,000 miles and emit anywhere from 19,000 to 27,000 pounds of CO2.
   Another option for businesses is to choose from the selection of new engine technologies, including FlexFuel vehicles or gas-electric hybrids. However, while FlexFuel vehicles, which run on E85 fuel (a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline) or biofuel, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 percent, these fuels may not be widely available in all fleet service areas. In addition, costs for acquisition, maintenance and resale can differ compared with more traditional engine technologies.