Helping Americans explore and adopt alternative energy sources beyond oil and gasoline has become easier. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory and DOE Clean Cities have made it a snap to find the location of alternative fuel stations across the United States by making that information available online in a variety of formats, including web applications, mobile applications, widgets, APIs, and raw data files on the Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) site.

These tools enable users to leverage the data to find fuel stations, post custom fueling location maps on their own websites, or access data for web applications or analysis. Developers may also choose to mash up the station data with numerous other data sets available on the Internet and create useful products to serve industry-specific needs.

Although begun long before, DOE’s effort perfectly aligns with many of the principles in the Digital Government Strategy (DGS), which was released one year ago. Since October 2011, AFDC received more than 258,263 API data calls and users downloaded the raw data 24,031 times. Over the same period, visitors to AFDC accumulated 1,189,267 page views on the station locator tool, and 46,804 page views of its sister tool, the mobile station locator.

The station locator widget, introduced in October 2012, offers yet another way to share the data. Website owners across the country have embedded the widget on over 100 websites and collected more than 41,500 page views. As alternative fueling methods become more widely available and public use increases, DOE will continue to support their adaptation into America’s mainstream fueling market.

DOE is committed to providing the public with accurate information about where they can find alternative fuel sources that will help to curb exhaust emissions and contribute to a healthier environment. For even more energy-related data, visit OpenEI!