Mammoth Cave Powered Entirely with Alternative Fuel

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky has become the first national park to be powered entirely with alternative fuel. That’s what the executive director of the Kentucky clean fuels coalition told state lawmakers in Frankfort Wednesday. 

Melissa Howell heads the Louisville-based, non-profit organization.

“B-85, bio-diesel, electric and propane, everything down there, transportation, even the ferries that operate on the Green River are all fueled by alternative fuels or advanced technologies. That’s one national park out of 380,” she says.                        

Howell says the U.S. Department of Energy chose Mammoth Cave over Yellowstone National Park for the pilot project. She says a key part of the initiative was the purchase of four propane buses to bring visitors from the main parking area to the cave entrances. Howell says those vehicles transport more than 400,000 people annually.