NGVAmerica News Week in Review: March 23, 2015

This week’s articles include:

• President Obama Issues Executive Order on Federal Sustainability
• Ohio State University Issues $2.5 Million RFQ for CNG Station
• American Power Group Earns EPA Certification for Additional IUL Engines
• GFS Corp Announces New Order for LNG Haul Truck Systems in Wyoming
• Progressive Waste Solutions Opens Landfill-Gas-to-Energy Facility near Montreal
• Waste Management of Southern California Opens New CNG Fueling Station in Chino
• TruStar to Build Station for CNG Energy in Kansas
• IGS and Speedway Convenience Stores to Construct CNG Station in Indiana
• Midwest Cargo Partners for New GAIN Clean Fuel CNG Station
• Emterra Group and U.S. GAIN Partner on CNG Conversion Project

President Obama Issues Executive Order on Federal Sustainability

On March 18, President Obama issued a new Executive Order, “Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade,” an order that establishes a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2025.  The order focuses mostly on efficiency, renewable fuel use and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and covers federal energy use at federal installations and federal motor vehicle fleets, among other things.

Federal fleets are instructed to take actions to eliminate unnecessary vehicles and to reduce fleet-wide greenhouse gas emissions as measured against 2014 levels as follows:  4 percent by 2017, 15 percent by 2021, and 30 percent by 2025.  Federal agencies also are instructed to acquire electric and plug-in electric vehicles when purchasing passenger vehicles, defined as sedans or station wagons, with a requirement that electric and plug-in electrics make up 20 and 50 percent of passenger vehicle purchases in 2020 and 2025, respectively. The directive also provides that the purchase of electric vehicles that replace other classes of vehicles shall earn double credit in meeting the fleet obligations.  It will be interesting to see how federal agencies manage to come up with the additional funds necessary to pay for EVs, particularly since the current Congress is unlikely to want to fund them, and President Obama’s term ends in less than 2 years.

An important point to consider is that fact that the order revokes EO 13423, which set out aggressive targets for reducing petroleum consumption (20 percent by 2015) and increasing alternative fuel use (10 percent increase in use by 2015 from 2005).  While EO 13423 only extended to 2015, it is perhaps noteworthy that the new EO does not directly address petroleum reductions or alternative fuel use levels.  This raises the question as to whether these goals are no longer a top priority.  It is also noteworthy that the order revokes the May 2011 Memorandum on Federal Fleet Performance that required by the end of 2015 that alternative fuel vehicles make up 100 percent of federal agency purchases of light duty vehicles.

Federal agencies nonetheless are still required by federal law (EPAct 1992) to purchase alternative fuel vehicles and must use alternative fuel in those vehicles unless they receive a waiver.  And the EO does include a more expansive role for alternative fuel vehicles other than electric and plug-in vehicles elsewhere in the directive.  Specifically, a section on regional coordination instructs the EPA and GSA to lead an effort to identify opportunities with DOD and other agencies to share alternative fueling infrastructure, including compressed natural gas stations, to support adoption and use of alternative fuel vehicles.  Another section directs the U.S. DOE to work with the USPS to evaluate alternative and advanced fuel technologies for the USPS fleet.

Another area of potential significance for natural gas vehicles is the requirement to establish targets for reductions of greenhouse gas emissions related to “delivery and transportation services” and another provision that calls for working groups to among other things make recommendations for addressing emissions associated with “Federal freight and cargo.”  Both of these items would appear to create an opportunity to focus federal attention on using natural gas in heavy duty truck operations and also in buses operated by federal fleets.

The EO is available here.

For more information, contact Jeff Clarke at 202.824.7364 or jclarke@NGVAmerica.org.

 

California Energy Commission Announces $1.5 Million for CNG Infrastructure

The California Energy Commission Program Opportunity Notice PON-14-608 has issued a competitive solicitation to school districts and other public entities to fund projects that establish or expand infrastructure necessary to store, distribute and dispense CNG for use in NGVs. A total of $1.5 million is available under this solicitation. The maximum award for each agreement under this solicitation is $500,000 for public K-12 school districts and $250,000 for other public entities. To be eligible for this solicitation, project must be located in California and be either new CNG fueling infrastructure or an upgrade to existing CNG infrastructure. Matching funds are not required from school districts. Other public entities must provide a minimum match of 25 percent of the total allowable project costs. There is a pre-application workshop that will be held April 1, 2015. The deadline to submit applications is June 11, 2015.

For more information, visit the PON website here, or contact Kevyn Piper at 916.654.4845 or kevyn.piper@energy.ca.gov.

 

Ohio State University Issues $2.5 Million RFQ for CNG Station

The Ohio State University has issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) from firms for the design and construction of a new CNG fueling station with $2.5 million in available funding. The station will be used to provide fast-fill fueling to a variety of light and heavy-vehicles. The work includes, but is not limited to, proving CNG dryers, compressors, storage, distribution and dispensing equipment; subgrade and site work; a Control Building; mechanical and electrical trades; and other work as necessary to complete the contract in accordance with the plans and specifications set forth in the Bid Submittal Documents. Four new Ohio State buses are powered by CNG, and the school says it sees a benefit to converting more of its vehicles to alternative fuels. The deadline to respond to the RFQ is March 31, 2015.

A copy of the RFQ is available here. For more information, contact Aldino Stazzone at stazzone.1@osu.edu.

 

U.S. Coast Guard Completes LNG Bunkering Regulations

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has responded to the need for guidance in regard to LNG bunkering by publishing two new Policy Letters on LNG Bunkering, Personnel Training and Waterfront Facilities. With regard to simultaneous operations (SIMOPS) USCG points to Recommended Practice for “Development and Operation of LNG Bunkering Facilities” from DNV GL, an international certification body and international ship and offshore classification society, for guidance.

Since U.S. ports do not have LNG liquefaction and storage facilities yet, ships will for now have to rely on small-scale bunkering. Risks inherent to this practice had not been addressed by U.S. legislation until now, but are covered in DNV GL’s Recommended Practice RP-0006: 2014-01 on the Development and Operation of LNG bunkering.

In 2013, DNV GL developed the Recommended Practice to help facilitate the development of an international LNG infrastructure while waiting for the final release of the ISO 18683 workgroup document on systems and installations for supply of LNG as fuel to ships. It was released on 15 January 2015 and builds on DNV GL’s RP.

Most of the LNG-fuelled ships sailing the oceans today are built to DNV GL’s classification rules. Further information on LNG safety as well as DNV GL’s full Recommended Practice for Development and Operation of LNG bunkering facilities can be found on the DNV GL website here.

The USCG Policy Letters on Guidance for the Use of Liquefied Natural Gas as a Marine Fuel are available for download here.

 

American Power Group Earns EPA Certification for Additional IUL Engines

American Power Group (APG) announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved its Clean Alternative Fuel Vehicle and Engine Conversion Submission for additional Intermediate Useful Life (IUL) engines. The submission utilized APG’s V5000 Dual Fuel Turbocharged Natural Gas technology which is required to meet specific design, componentry and emission compliance criteria per EPA rules. The new EPA certificate covers eight Detroit Diesel DD 13 engine families.

The DD13 engine offers performance and efficiency designed for the less-than-truck-load (LTL), regional distribution and vocational applications. The IUL engine approvals, including those with SCR technology, address the needs of larger national and regional fleet operators who rotate their vehicles every four to five years. There are approximately 4,300 U.S. registered DD13 owners representing over 30,000 trucks for engine production years 2013–2010. APG will use this target list to market the new system through their natural gas supply partners and WheelTime Certified Dealer Network. APG estimates there are 600,000–700,000 Class 8 trucks that fall into the total eligible IUL designation.

 

GFS Corp Announces New Order for LNG Haul Truck Systems in Wyoming

Arch Coal’s Black Thunder Mine located in Wright, Wyoming, recently placed and order for 10 EVO-MT 9300 LNG Conversion Systems for installation on Komatsu 930E haul trucks. The order is part of Arch Coal’s ongoing program to assess the benefits of using LNG in their mining operations. The EVO-MT Systems will be configured for use with either Cummins or MTU engines. The newly converted Komatsu 930E haul trucks will join Arch’s existing fleet of LNG-powered Komatsu 830E units that have been in operation at the Black Thunder Mine since January of 2014. The company expects to have the project fully completed by the second quarter 2015 and is currently working with Arch Coal to develop NG+D solutions for other applications, including additional haul truck models as well as other diesel-powered surface mining equipment.

 

Progressive Waste Solutions Opens Landfill-Gas-to-Energy Facility near Montreal

Progressive Waste Solutions celebrated the official opening of its renewable natural gas (RNG) facility, the largest of its kind in Canada and one of the largest in North America. The facility located in Terrebonne, Quebec, near Montreal, is converting landfill gas to natural gas which is then delivered to the TransCanada pipeline network, via an injection point adjacent to the landfill site. The facility is designed to process approximately 10,000 cubic feet per minute of incoming landfill gas.

“Our investment in this facility, along with the investment we are making to convert certain portions of our collection fleet to compressed natural gas (CNG) from diesel fuel, demonstrates our commitment to environmentally sustainable practices as well as reducing our carbon footprint,” said Dan Pio, executive vice president, strategy and business development, Progressive Waste Solutions.

Progressive Waste Solutions operates the largest fleet of collection trucks powered by CNG in the Canadian waste and recyclables collection industry. Currently, it operates approximately 200 CNG powered vehicles in Canada and through its normal replacement of its fleet is on track to have up to 55 percent of the total number of vehicles it replaces annually in Canada and the U.S. fuelled by CNG.

The development and construction of the facility cost approximately $34.4 million and created about 100 development and construction jobs and five operational jobs. At the plant opening, the company also unveiled the rebranding of BFI Canada to Vision Enviro Progressive in Quebec.

 

Waste Management of Southern California Opens New CNG Fueling Station in Chino

Waste Management of Southern California unveiled a new CNG fueling station in Chino that will be publically accessible to NGV operators in the region. The public fueling station will refuel Waste Management’s local fleet and sell CNG to commercial fleets and retail consumers with CNG vehicles. The company now operates 24 CNG trucks in the City of Chino and plans to replace the few remaining diesel trucks later this year, making its entire fleet serving in the City of Chino powered by natural gas.

“We are pleased with the strong commitment Waste Management has demonstrated toward cleaner air,” said City of Chino Mayor and Vice Chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Governing Board Dennis Yates. “By increasing accessibility to cleaner burning compressed natural gas fuel to fleets in Chino and beyond, we are taking positive steps to protect Southern California’s air quality as we work toward achieving greater sustainability.”

In North America, Waste Management currently operates the largest fleet of heavy-duty natural gas trucks in the waste industry with more than 4,000 natural gas trucks, including more than 1,100 in Southern California. For more information, contact Waste Management’s Eloisa Orozco at 619.778.6303 or eorozco1@wm.com or the City of Chino’s Monica Gutierrez at 909.334.3307 or mgutierrez@cityofchino.org.

 

Midwest Cargo Partners for New GAIN Clean Fuel CNG Station

U.S. GAIN and Midwest Cargo Systems are partnering on a new GAIN Clean Fuel CNG station in Hodgkins, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.  The new GAIN station at Midwest Cargo’s facility is a half mile south of the intersection of I-294 and I-55, offering easy on-off access to both interstates.  This corridor is one of the busiest trucking corridors in the country.  Construction is scheduled to begin mid-March 2015.

Presently, Midwest Cargo is acquiring 10 Class 8 CNG tractors through a lease from Ryder.  With a fleet of over 100 dry vans and reefers and 50 tri-axle chassis, Midwest Cargo serves a variety of transportation needs in the region, including the delivery of intermodal containers and dedicated fleet operations. This is first time Midwest Cargo will operate CNG trucks.

With this partnership, GAIN Clean Fuel is on track with its plan to have more than 100 CNG stations in operation within the next two years. There are currently 43 GAIN Clean Fuel stations in operation or under construction throughout the U.S.  Each provides fast-fill capabilities and has fleet card acceptance. All of the GAIN stations are open for use by other companies and the general public.

For more information, contact Tracy Williams-Prince at 920.257.8533 or twilliams-prince@usventure.com.

 

Emterra Group and U.S. GAIN Partner on CNG Conversion Project

On Friday, U.S. GAIN and Emterra Group, a Canadian recycling resources collection and management company, announced they are partnering in a new venture to build and operate the largest CNG fuelling station in Ontario, Canada. It will be located in Mississauga, in the Greater Toronto Area. The new station, to be operated as a branded GAIN Clean Fuel station, will supply Emterra’s Mississauga-based fleet of 120 CNG waste and recycling collection vehicles. It will also be open to other companies with CNG fleets.

Emterra provides integrated recycling resource management and waste disposal solutions for the commercial, industrial and institutional (ICI) sectors and municipalities throughout Canada and the State of Michigan. It is converting its fleet of collection trucks from diesel to natural gas as part of its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution. “The new CNG station will make it possible for us to contribute to the environmental health and well-being of the communities we service by operating greener trucks,” said Emmie Leung, Emterra’s Founder and CEO.”

By the end of 2015, Emterra will have more than 200 recycling and natural gas-powered waste collection trucks operating throughout Canada.

For more information, contact Tracy Williams-Prince at 920.257.8533 or twilliams-prince@usventure.com.

 

IGS and Speedway Convenience Stores to Construct CNG Station in Indiana

On Thursday, IGS CNG Services and Speedway, a national convenience store chain with about 2,750 locations, announced that a CNG fueling station will be constructed in South Bend, Indiana. It will be located off the Indiana Toll Road at I-80 and I-90. The station will feature two fueling lanes.

The partnership between IGS CNG Services and Speedway services the growing number of businesses that have converted their fleet to natural gas and are looking for easy access to CNG stations while traveling through the region. This is the second station in partnership for the two companies, who also have a location open in Findlay, Ohio.

The South Bend location is the eleventh in the IGS CNG Services family of stations that service the public. Of the eleven stations, IGS CNG Services has one currently under construction in Marengo, Ohio, along with six active stations in Ohio and three in West Virginia.

For more information, contact IGS Energy’s Kerri Ward at 614.659.5400 or kward@igsenergy.com.

 

TruStar to Build Station for CNG Energy in Kansas

On Tuesday, TruStar Energy has been awarded the contract to design and build a large public-access fueling station for CNG Energy to support Liberal, Kansas, and the surrounding Southwest Kansas area and Oklahoma Panhandle.

CNG Energy Vice President Rocky Ormiston has looked into CNG to power their 12 Kenworth tractors, which are scheduled to haul ethanol co-products from the local ethanol plant as well as corn and sorghum into the plant. “Two things that we immediately appreciated with natural gas were the cost per MCF and its price stability over time,” said Ormiston. “You can do a lot of projections as far as budgeting is concerned without the threat of price spikes. We’re also using a domestic fuel source instead of something coming in on a tanker from overseas.”

The CNG Energy station will feature two public fast-fill dispensers with volume that will support not only their own 12 tractors, but other commercial fleets and private vehicles as well.