PLANTATION, Fl. — DHL Express announced the launch of 100 pickup and delivery vans fueled by propane autogas.

DHL’s new Ford E-250 cargo vans, each equipped with a ROUSH CleanTech dedicated liquid propane autogas fuel system, will be on the road by late August 2012, the company said. They’ll be a part of DHL Express pickup and delivery service within California, Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Texas.

“Customers in the U.S. and worldwide are increasingly demanding greener logistics and sustainable business procedures,” said Ian Clough, CEO of DHL Express U.S. “Initiatives like our all ‘green’ fleet in Manhattan and this propane autogas fleet not only lower our DHL carbon footprint, but are a smart, clean and cost-effective choice for our business.”

DHL already has other vehicles in Ohio, Tennessee and Louisiana running on propane.

The switch-over is part of Deutsche Post DHL’s ‘GoGreen’ program, which aims to improve the company’s worldwide carbon efficiency 30 percent by 2020, using 2007 levels as a baseline.

The company said that by using propance autogas, each alternative fuel vehicle saves over 22,587 pounds of CO2 emissions each year. DHL said that propane autogas reduces greenhouse gases by up to 25 percent, carbon monoxide by up to 60 percent, nitrogen oxide by 20 percent and virtually eliminates particulate matter when compared to conventional fuels.

The existing public refueling infrastructure will be used, DHL said, in addition to adding refueling capability at various service center facilities. The infrastructure for propane autogas is less expensive than other fuel alternatives, DHL added, and “already has the largest public refueling infrastructure of all alternative transportation fuel options.”