NGVAmerica News Week in Review: February 27, 2017

• Agility Introduces Blue iQ Natural Gas Fuel Technology
• Pellitteri Waste Deploys CNG Trucks in Wisconsin
• Greenkraft Delivers Trucks to Two Southern California Cities
• Xpress Natural Gas Expands Management Team
• Materials Supplier Joins Coalition to Advance Low Pressure ANG Technology
• IVECO Vehicles Voted Most Sustainable by Italian Trade Magazine
• BC Ferries Set to Receive Second Dual-Fuel Ferry

Agility Introduces Blue iQ Natural Gas Fuel Technology

February 27, 2017

Agility Fuel Solutions has introduced Blue iQ, its newest natural gas fuel product, at the American Trucking Association’s TMC Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition. Blue iQ uses proprietary technology developed through Agility’s partnership with Cummins to give natural gas vehicles the same tools diesel trucks use to optimize fuel consumption and maximize uptime.

All fuel system manufacturers have access to on-board diagnostic data, but only Blue iQ takes it further by integrating with Cummins Connected Diagnostics, INSITE service tool, and QuickServe support to connect vehicles, drivers, managers, and technicians for real-time management, diagnostics, and service. In addition, Blue iQ is the only tool that has access to Cummins proprietary engine data. Its Smart Gauge dashboard has Vehicle Range Monitor to determine how far drivers can go with the gas on board, EcoMode to help avoid unplanned refueling at low fuel levels, and Limp Home Mode to get drivers safely out of traffic at extremely low fuel levels. There’s even Cold Start Logic to ensure no downtime on cold mornings.

“The best path to a sustainable planet is to make sustainability good business,” says Kathleen Ligocki, CEO, Agility Fuel Solutions. “Blue iQ allows natural gas vehicles to operate on a level playing field with diesel, but with lower fuel costs, quieter engines, and less emissions.”

Moving toward natural gas vehicles is a modern-day imperative. The latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicates the largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions is the transportation sector. Agility says that its largest refuse customer has found that for every diesel truck replaced with natural gas, greenhouse gases are reduced by 22 metric tons per year, or a 21 percent reduction per truck. It also cuts nitrogen oxide by up to 50 percent.

Pellitteri Waste Deploys CNG Trucks in Wisconsin

February 27, 2017

Pellitteri Waste Systems, a waste hauler servicing Madison, Wisconsin, has expanded its fleet of trucks to include four CNG vehicles to take advantage of domestic natural gas and the growing number of CNG stations in the region.

The new trucks will fill up with clean-burning RNG produced at the Dane County landfill. The renewable natural gas station is part of Dane County’s aggressive conversion to natural gas that will see 75 percent of the county’s fleet vehicles running on the environmentally-friendly fuel by the end of the year.

“Being a good environmental steward is woven into our DNA at Pellitteri,” said Tim  Pellitteri, owner of Pellitteri Waste Systems. “We see CNG trucks as a strategic decision to take care of our planet.”

Pellitteri bought their first CNG refuse truck last year and its lower exhaust emissions and quieter running engines have encouraged them to add more. The trucks were purchased locally at Bruce Municipal Equipment in Menomonee Falls.

Greenkraft Delivers Trucks to Two Southern California Cities

February 16, 2017

Greenkraft announced it has placed six environmentally-friendly CNG trucks in a Southern California city, and will be placing another six CNG trucks for another Southern California City. Greenkraft says the trucks meet all of the cities’ requirements and can be used by municipalities for their daily operations.

In addition, Greenkraft now offers very favorable financing options for Greenkraft truck purchasers. This makes buying a fleet of trucks much more affordable since they are not required to come up with a large sum of money all at once. Greenkraft says these new financing options will pave the way for new revenue in 2017.

Greenkraft continues to work diligently to provide long-term value for the Company and its shareholders alike by increasing revenues and executing their clearly defined expansion plan.

Xpress Natural Gas Expands Management Team

February 22, 2017

Xpress Natural Gas, a full-service CNG and LNG provider with operations throughout the US and eastern Canada, has announced the hiring of two key executives into leadership roles.

Vince Morrissette has joined the XNG management team as Executive Vice President of Wholesale Business Development.  Vince has over 25 years of experience in the energy industry in a variety of roles including energy infrastructure development, natural gas sales/marketing, asset management, financial planning/analysis, regulatory affairs, and engineering.  Prior to joining XNG, Vince held leadership positions at Repsol Energy North America, CenterPoint Energy, Iroquois Gas Transmission, and El Paso Corp associated primarily with energy infrastructure development (pipelines, power generation, and LNG facilities).  He has been actively involved in the Northeast US gas market for most of his career, with strong focus on wholesale market development, infrastructure development, and regulatory affairs in the region.

Gary Ritter has joined XNG as Vice President, Sales and Business Development focusing on Gas Utilities. Gary comes from Tenaska, where he was responsible for commercial and operational relationships with LDC customers across New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.  His experience includes gas marketing, asset management, and acting as agent for northeast gas utility and power generation customers.  Prior to that, Gary was with GDF Suez and Distrigas, with responsibility for coordination of all trucked LNG to northeast LDC tanks.  Gary brings extensive understanding of regional LDCs assets and their service needs.

Xpress Natural Gas operates a fleet of over 100 high-volume trailers, with equipment capable of maintaining rates in excess of 900 million cubic feet per hour.

“Scalability and redundancy are core to our operations,” said Matt Smith, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing.  “We can rapidly mobilize resources and assets from any of our eight gas dispatch centers to provide high volume gas supply to locations on little or no notice.”

Materials Supplier Joins Coalition to Advance Low Pressure ANG Technology

February 20, 2017

Schulman, a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds, masterbatches, powders and resins, announced it has reached an agreement with Adsorbed Natural Gas Products (ANGP) whereby A. Schulman will join the coalition with ANGP to develop and produce the world’s first commercially viable conformable Type IV adsorbent-based low pressure natural gas (ANG) storage tank for motor vehicles.

In February 2016, ANGP and United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) announced an exclusive licensing agreement allowing ANGP to use UTRC’s patent-pending technology to develop and produce storage tanks. A. Schulman will join the coalition as the material and molding solution provider to help develop a storage tank that meets the American National Standards for Natural Gas Vehicle Container (ANSI NGV2) certification. With A. Schulman’s Quantum carbon fiber composite technology, A. Schulman was chosen as a key participant in developing this advanced storage system.

ANGP received the prestigious 2016 Frost & Sullivan New Product Innovation Award for Gas Storage for Natural Gas Vehicles.  The on-board, low-pressure adsorbed natural gas storage system developed by ANGP and its technology partners was recognized as an innovative, game-changing solution in the light duty vehicles fueling market.

“A. Schulman, as a leading material solutions company, was selected to be the material and molding solution provider for the development of the tank after a careful review of all our options,” said Bob Bonelli, ANGP co-founder and chief executive officer. “We are excited to add the company’s knowledge and expertise to our coalition to develop this technology for mass market acceptance.”

IVECO Vehicles Voted Most Sustainable in Italy

February 24, 2017

IVECO, a brand of CNH Industrial, has won at the “Sustainable Truck of the Year” awards, promoted by the Italian trade magazine Vado e Torno, in collaboration with Lifegate, an Italian network that provides national and international information and services on environmental, energy and sustainability issues. The award series was inaugurated this year in response to the growing awareness of sustainability in the transport sector.

The IVECO Eurocargo CNG, which runs on CNG, was named “Sustainable Truck of the Year” in the “Distribution” category. This particular model is equipped with an IVECO Tector 6 natural gas engine with 210 horsepower that is engineered by FPT Industrial, the powertrain brand of CNH Industrial.

BC Ferries Set to Receive Second Dual-Fuel Ferry

February 21, 2017

BC Ferries’ Salish Eagle, the second of three new Salish Class vessels, is on its way from Gdansk, Poland. Salish Eagle, BC Ferries’ second dual-fuel vessel, is scheduled to arrive in B.C. in April for crew training and familiarization. The ship is scheduled to start service in the Southern Gulf Islands in the summer.

“We are looking forward to introducing all three new Salish Class vessels into service this year, which will serve British Columbians for decades to come.” said Mike Corrigan, BC Ferries’ President and CEO. “We plan to operate these ships on natural gas, which will improve our environmental footprint and reduce our operating costs.”

Under contract to the Province of British Columbia, BC Ferries is the service provider responsible for the delivery of safe, efficient and dependable ferry service along coastal British Columbia.