 CNGVP News
The CNGVP works to provide a constantly updated news source covering anything of interest to its advocates, supporters and interested parties. The most recent news stories are posted here. To see an archive of the CNGVP news stories, please click here.
City of Fresno to Demonstrate World's First CNG Powered Plug-In Hybrid Refuse Vehicle
May 20, 2008 - The world’s first operational CNG powered plug-in hybrid refuse truck is being debuted and demonstrated by the City of Fresno. The truck is believed to be the first refuse truck in the world to combine a natural gas engine with a rechargeable electric hybrid drive system. The trash truck is driven by an electric motor, and the natural gas engine is only required to power the hydraulic system for collection. Please click here for further details.
Renewable Natural Gas and NGVs to Revitalize the Auto Industry Flint, Michigan
May 16, 2008 - The city of Flint, Michigan and an alternative energy company, Swedish Biogas International, announced a joint plan to build a plant to convert waste from the city's wastewater facility into biomethane for fuel. Swedish Biogas hopes to build other similar plants in the U.S. and spur further development and popularity of biomethane vehicles. A 2007 report estimated that 12,000 vehicles are being fueled with biomethane worldwide, with 70,000 biomethane-fueled vehicles predicted by 2010. Europe has most of these vehicles. The biomethane plant in Flint is expected to initially fuel Flint’s fleet of municipal vehicles. Click here for further details.
UPS Expands Largest U.S. Green Fleet
May 13, 2008 - UPS is again expanding its U.S. Green Fleet, this time with an order of 300 CNG trucks and 200 hybrid electric trucks. This is the largest commercial order of such hybrid trucks by any company. The company’s fleet of green vehicles will reach 2,218 by 2009 (this includes 1,100 CNG and 250 electric vehicles) and make it the largest private alternative fuel fleet in the U.S. The company expects the hybrid fleet to save 176,000 gallons of fuel annually and reduce CO2 emissions by 1,786 metric tons each year. That is the equivalent of taking around 100 conventional UPS trucks off the road for one year. The CNG vehicles are expected to yield a 20 percent reduction in emissions over the cleanest diesel engines available today. Please click here for further details.
SCAQMD Funds 130 NGV Drayage Trucks for Ports
May 9, 2008 - The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SQAQMD) in Southern California has approved $11.7 million in funding for 130 natural gas-powered trucks to be deployed in the ports of LA and Long Beach in Cal Cartage’s drayage operation. The trucks will be powered by Cummins Westport’s ISL G natural gas engine and manufactured by Sterling Trucks (see CNGVP May 12, 2008 Press Release). Funding in the amount of $90,000 per truck was provided by the South Coast AQMD and this includes Proposition 1B funds. Velocity Vehicle Group (VVG) and their Southbay Sterling Division lead the development of this project. Gladstein, Neandross & Associates procured the funding on behalf of VVG and Cal Cartage. With funding now approved, these trucks will be built and placed into Cal Cartage’s operation in late 2008. The commercial availability of these trucks has also sparked strong interest from other trucking companies.
City of Fresno LNG Fueling Contract Awarded
May 6, 2008 – The City of Fresno has awarded a contract to Clean Energy Fuels Corp. to supply LNG for the city’s municipal refuse fleet for up to five years, thus expanding a fueling relationship begun in 2004. The City will soon operate over 100 natural gas refuse vehicles, making it the largest municipal LNG refuse fleet operator in California’s Central Valley and second largest in California. Click here for further details.
Baytech’s Announces New Heavy Duty CNG Engine and Vehicle Certifications
May 5, 2008 – Baytech Corporation’s CNG and Propane fueled GM 8.1L and 6.0L heavy-duty engines have received 2008 EPA and CARB certification. The heavy-duty engines are now available for new 2008 and 2009 model year vehicles in all 50 U.S. states. They are offered in both dedicated CNG or propane and dual fuel (CNG or gasoline and propane or gasoline) configurations. Baytech expects to have CNG systems available for light duty GM, Isuzu, and Workhorse vehicles with the 6.0L engine for the 2009 model year. Please click here for further details.
Waste Management and Linde North America to Build New Landfill-to-LNG Project in California
April 30, 2008 – Waste Management and Linde North America have agreed to work together to build a facility that will convert landfill to gas into LNG at the Altamont landfill. This is a $15.5 million joint venture that will receive grant assistance from California Integrated Waste Management Board, the California Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Waste Management expects the facility to begin operations in 2009 and to produce up to 13,000 gallons of LNG a day. For further details, please click here.
Natural Gas Entities Amongst Blue Sky Award Finalists
April 25, 2008 - Calstart has selected three finalists for this year’s prestigious Blue Sky Award. PG&E Transportation Services was selected for its green fleet initiatives; Southern Counties Express was selected for committing to build and operate a publicly available LNG truck fueling station at its own facility to the port trucking community; and Business Region, Goteborg was selected for catalyzing Sweden's use of biomethane as a renewable fuel for transportation. The annual award recognizes outstanding marketplace contributions to clean air, energy efficiency and to the clean transportation industry overall. The winner is expected to be announced in the next few weeks. Please click here for further details.
CNG Trolleys Added to California Public Fleet
April 25, 2008 - The town of Visalia is making an effort to put more cleaner-burning transit vehicles onto the streets in order to lessen the impact on the area’s poor air quality. Three new CNG trolleys have been added to the public transit fleet for its downtown free bus loop service. The trolleys replaced older diesel trolleys. In May, the city expects a delivery of ten new large, fixed-route CNG busses and to convert their 11-bus Dial-a-Ride fleet to 100 percent alternative fuel. These additions will make two-thirds of the city’s large buses powered by CNG. Click here for further details.
Los Angeles MTA to Add 260 CNG Buses to Fleet
April 24, 2008 - The Board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has approved the purchase of 260 new 45-foot CNG buses for the fleet. The new buses are to be manufactured by North American Bus Industries and will be used to primarily replace the oldest 40-foot diesel buses in the Metro’s fleet. The majority of MTA’s current fleet of 2,561 active buses are already fueled by CNG. The funds – approximately $171 million – were approved in February from a combination of federal, state and local funds. Please click here for further information.
San Diego Launches the First-Ever Natural Gas-Hybrid Transit Bus
April 18, 2008 - The first commercial bus with a CNG and electric hybrid drive system has been launched by the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) of San Diego The new hybrid drive system was made possible by grants from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), San Diego Air Pollution Control District (APCD), and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The hybrid model boasts numerous environmental benefits from significantly greater fuel economy to reduced emissions. Click here for further details.
Natural Gas Vehicles Identified as Key Strategy at Recent Conference on Low Carbon Fuels
April 14, 2008 – Speakers ranging from Mary Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board, to Hal Snyder, vice-president of customer programs at SoCalGas and SDG&E touted the many benefits of alternative fuels and the importance of California’s Low Carbon Fuels Standard at the recent Low Carbon Fuels 2008 conference in Sacramento. Natural gas vehicles were identified as a key part of the strategy to reduce the carbon content of California’s transportation fuels by at least 10 percent by 2020. The utilities have committed to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions of their fleet vehicles approximately 15 percent by 2012. Click here for further details of the conference and additional commitments by utilities in regards to natural gas deployment.
San Diego Transit System to Equip 250 Buses with Natural Gas Engines
April 11, 2008 - California’s San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) will equip 250 New Flyer public transit buses with ISL G natural gas engines manufactured by Cummins Westport. The ISL G engine delivers ultra-low emissions by surpassing EPA 2007 phase-in levels and meeting 2010 emission standards. The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System operates a fleet of more than 600 vehicles carrying more than 88 million
passengers per year. Click here for further details.
CNG Gets Another Looks as School Districts Face Higher Diesel Prices
April 1, 2008 - The Lodi Unified School District has already surpassed its annual bus fuel budget with two months still left in the school year. The price per gallon of diesel paid by the Lodi Unified School District has risen from $2.40 to $3.51 over the last year and the School District is compensating by combining routes, cutting overtime, and turning to its CNG buses - 27 CNG buses were reassigned to the longest routes and field trip routes. Other districts are also expecting to surpass fuel budgets while taking a closer look at cheaper and cleaner alternatives like CNG. Please click here for further details.
UPS Adds to ‘Green’ Fleet
March 27, 2008 - UPS, which already operates the transportation industry’s largest private fleet of alternative fuel vehicles, has recently deployed 167 CNG delivery vehicles, bringing the UPS ‘green fleet’ total to 1,629. This number includes more than 800 CNG vehicles already in use by UPS in the United States. “This CNG deployment is one more step towards the 'greening' of the UPS fleet. Continuing to add CNG delivery trucks to our fleet is a sustainable choice because natural gas is a cost effective, clean-burning and readily available fuel,” said Robert Hall, director of vehicle engineering at UPS. The trucks are expected to reduce emissions by 20% and improve fuel economy by 10% compared to the cleanest diesel engines available today. For further details, please click here.
Peterbilt & Westport Innovations Join Forces for LNG Truck
March 26, 2008 - Peterbilt Motors Company has announced its partnership with Westport Innovations to develop a natural gas version of its Model 386 units. These units will meet 2008 EPA and CARB emission standards and be eligible for a federal tax credit and other state-specific emissions credits. The first four of these units will be Model 386’s built for Wal-Mart for use at their Apple Valley, California distribution center. Deployment will be funded in part by the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District. Click here for more details.
As Diesel Prices Spike, LNG Trucks Offer Cost Benefit to Fresno Fleet
March 21, 2008 - The decision to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) refuse trucks is paying off in a big way for the City of Fresno in California. With the price of diesel fuel skyrocketing so far this year, the city has been forced to pay out $400,000 more to fuel its diesel fleet than budgeted, but "we would have been $1.2 million over had we not switched to liquid natural gas (LNG)," said Joseph Oldham, Fresno Fleet Supervisor. "Now we've seen not only emissions benefits but cost savings by running alternative fuels." Compared to the typical diesel refuse truck, the city's 80 natural gas powered ones are not only cheaper to run, they're quieter and don't pollute the air as much—the original reason Fresno decided to begin the switch to natural gas five years ago. Fresno plans to replace its entire fleet of refuse trucks with natural gas trucks by 2010. For further details, please click here.
Port of LA Approves Clean Truck Plan
March 20, 2008 - The Los Angeles Harbor Commission has approved a Clean Truck Program for the Port of LA similar to the one approved by the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners in April. The program goes into effect on October 1st, 2008 at both ports. One major difference is that the LA Port Plan requires that drivers be employees of port-approved concessionaires. There also are differences with respect to exemptions and financing. The Plan is expected to increase the number of natural gas trucks servicing both ports. Click here for further details.
For the CNGVP news archive, please click here.
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