NGVAmerica News Week in Review: August 10, 2015

• NGVAmerica Names Daniel Bowerson as New Director of Technology & Development
• California NGV Incentive Project Now Open in California
• Washington Garbage Fleet Transitioning to Natural Gas
• TruStar Energy Celebrates Upgrade of CNG Fueling Station for Sacramento County
• Onboard Dynamics Featured at White House Demo Day
• ANGI Energy Systems Announces Next President
• Port of Singapore to Offer LNG Bunkering
• Caterpillar Marine Performing Dual Fuel Marine Engine Retrofit

NGVAmerica Names Daniel Bowerson as New Director of Technology & Development

August 10, 2015

NGVAmerica has named Daniel Bowerson as the organization’s new Director of Technology & Development. Bowerson will lead NGVAmerica programs that are related to industry technology, research priorities, best practices, and codes and standards development for natural gas vehicles (NGVs) and fueling infrastructure. The position will serve a critical function for NGVAmerica members in supporting the continued quality, safety and technological advancement of vehicles powered by clean-burning, domestic natural gas.

“Dan brings strong expertise to this important role that will provide added value to NGVAmerica members,” said Matthew Godlewski, President of NGVAmerica. “We’re fortunate to have someone of Dan’s caliber take on a leadership position to expand cooperation and coordination with key stakeholders around the shared technology and development goals of the industry.”

Prior to assuming this role, Bowerson held key positions and gained significant experience around engineering and safety issues related to NGVs.  Most recently, he held a position at FCA US, LLC (formerly Chrysler Group, LLC) as the Technical Specialist in alternative fuels and, most notably, was responsible for launching the CNG fuel system on the RAM 2500 CNG. Prior to joining FCA, Bowerson worked at Roush Industries as the Senior Powertrain Design Engineer. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Western Michigan University and is pursuing an M.S. in Engineering Management at the University of Michigan.

The Clean Vehicle Education Foundation (CVEF) has coordinated many of the key technology and development functions for the NGV industry over the years and was originally part of NGVAmerica.  With the retirement of CVEF’s leadership, the NGVAmerica and CVEF boards sought to preserve CVEF’s important body of work through the creation of Bowerson’s position within NGVAmerica.

“CVEF has done valuable work on behalf of the industry over the years and it’s only logical that as the industry’s national trade association, NGVAmerica should resume the key functions and critical leadership CVEF has provided for the marketplace,” said Ron Eickelman, NGVAmerica Chair and Executive Director of Agility Fuels.

California NGV Incentive Project Now Open in California

The Natural Gas Vehicle Incentive Project (NGVIP), which is administered by the institute of Transportation Studies at U.C. Irvine on behalf of the California Energy Commission (CEC), is now accepting reservation applications for the purchase of new NGVs for use in California. The project’s available funding totals more than $10 million. The Natural Gas Vehicle Incentive Project (NGVIP) provides incentives to reduce the purchase price of new on-road natural gas vehicles for use in California. The incentives are available on a first-come, first-served basis and at varying levels depending on the gross vehicle weight.

Eligible applicants include individuals, firms and public agencies purchasing new NGVs for use in California. Eligible vehicles are new, on-road natural gas vehicles purchased after August 07, 2015 or the date on the submitted reservation confirmation, whichever is later. Vehicles must be registered in California and operated in the state at least 90 percent of the time for three years.

Details of the program are available in the application manual.

Washington Garbage Fleet Transitioning to Natural Gas

The City of Spokane, Washington, has unveiled its first CNG-powered garbage trucks. Over the next seven years, the City will convert its entire solid waste collection fleet from diesel to natural gas, a move that is part of the City’s Sustainability Action Plan, which simultaneously addresses unique opportunities for Spokane related to energy and climate.

This summer, the City will open the new Spokane Central Service Center, a combined Solid Waste Management and Fleet maintenance facility, which includes a CNG fueling station for the trucks. The City’s vehicle maintenance employees also are going through training to learn how to maintain and repair these vehicles. By the end of the year, the City expects to have 20 CNG trucks.

“We are continually looking for opportunities to use citizens’ dollars more effectively,” said Spokane’s Mayor David Condon. The City expects to save about $1 million a year in fuel costs once the entire fleet is converted.

TruStar Energy Celebrates Upgrade of CNG Fueling Station for Sacramento County

August 5, 2015

TruStar Energy celebrated the grand opening of Sacramento County’s upgraded CNG fueling station.

TruStar Energy was contracted to completely refurbish the existing CNG fueling station, which had been in operation since the early 80’s. The new combination time-fill and fast-fill station will be used primarily to provide fuel for the County’s refuse fleet, but also has a fast-fill dispenser to allow other county vehicles to fuel up.

Previously, the City’s refuse fleet was depending on an LNG station that required the use of a bulk LNG tanker that delivered fuel to the City’s second location to fuel its fleet vehicles. One of the issues with this arrangement was having to pay drivers to wait up to 45 minutes for their turn to fuel their vehicle. With the new time-fill station, drivers can plug in and walk away at the end of their shifts.

The station is configured to time-fill 40 vehicles simultaneously at night when electrical power (that runs the compressors) is at its cheapest. While the County doesn’t currently have a lot of CNG-powered fleet vehicles, they will be aggressively seeking new NGVs now that the fast-fill portion of the station is on line.

Onboard Dynamics Featured at White House Demo Day

August 4, 2015

Onboard Dynamics, an Oregon based alternative fuel technology company, highlighted its natural gas compression capabilities at the first-ever White House Demo Day. The White House Demo Day focused on inclusive entrepreneurship, welcoming startup founders from diverse walks of life and from across the country to showcase their innovations.

Founded to commercialize technology developed by and licensed from Oregon State University (OSU), Onboard Dynamics has received financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy, ONAMI (Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute), Oregon BEST, and OSU, as well as strategic partners and private investors. The company’s first commercial products will be available in mid-2016.

“U.S. policymakers increasingly are evaluating how alternative fuels can impact our country’s overall energy use,” said Rita Hansen, CEO of Onboard Dynamics. “With Onboard Dynamics’ unique natural gas compression technologies, vehicle owners can save money and significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by refueling with natural gas or renewable natural gas instead of traditional fuels.”

ANGI Energy Systems Announces Next President

August 4, 2015

ANGI Energy Systems announced that Jason Lund has joined the organization as President.  Lund succeeded John Grimmer, who served as ANGI’s CEO since 2005 when the business was privately owned and then transitioned as President once ANGI was acquired by Gilbarco Veeder-Root in June 2014.

“We are extremely excited about Jason’s appointment as we are certain our organization and our customers will be well-served by Jason’s leadership,” said Andy Grimmer, General Manager. “Jason is fully engaged with the management team here, and is positioning ANGI to continue to improve and grow as the industry leader.”

Jason joins ANGI with over five years of experience in various commercial leadership roles and more than 10 years of experience at Danaher.  Most recently he worked in the Water Quality industry, serving as Business Unit Director for Hach’s Environmental Test Systems (ETS) business.  Prior to that Jason was at Hach Lange where his focus was in Operations.  Also, Jason worked at Videojet Technologies and held the role of Director, Product Decoration & Graphics Businesses after being a Business Manager and Product Manager, serving the Printing and Nonwovens industries.

Jason holds a Master of Business Administration from Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Drake University.  Jason and his family will be relocating to Janesville in the upcoming weeks.

Port of Singapore to Offer LNG Bunkering

The Port of Singapore launched its first Request for Proposal (RFP) for interested parties to apply for the LNG bunker supplier license, which would allow the licensee to supply LNG bunker to vessels in the Port of Singapore.

In their submissions to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), applicants are to propose an end-to-end LNG bunkering supply solution that details, amongst other things, their bunkering supply and delivery model, LNG sources and marketing plans for the sale of LNG to customers in the Port of Singapore.

Interested applicants for the RFP have until 30 September 2015 to submit their proposals to MPA. The shortlisted proposals will be announced by MPA by end of this year. Details of the RFP can be found on MPA’s website.

As part of efforts to develop LNG bunkering, MPA has been collaborating closely with partner agencies, industry stakeholders and technical experts, to develop LNG bunkering standards, procedures and facilities. Last year, MPA announced commencing work on a pilot program with interested parties of the LNG bunker supply chain to establish operation protocols for LNG bunkering. MPA will also provide funding of up to S$2 million per vessel for up to six LNG-fueled vessels for the pilot program.

Successful applicants of the RFP are expected to supply LNG bunker to support the LNG bunkering Pilot Program that is scheduled to commence in early 2017.

The bunkering industry is an important and integral part of Singapore’s global hub port. With more than 42 million tons of bunker sales last year as the world’s top bunkering port, Singapore plays a key role in powering world shipping and promoting the use of cleaner fuels for ship bunkering.

Caterpillar Marine Performing Dual Fuel Marine Engine Retrofit

Caterpillar Marine is currently underway on a dual fuel engine retrofit conversion onboard the 472 foot Fure West tanker, owned by Furetank Rederi A/B. The MaK M 43 C diesel engine onboard the tanker will be retrofitted in hull to the 7 cylinder M 46 dual fuel platform. Additionally, Caterpillar is also supplying the complete gas system for the tanker, including bunker stations, two LNG tanks and the vaporizer.

This project, backed by the European Union, will mark the second MaK engine dual fuel retrofit. In 2014, Caterpillar successfully completed the dual fuel engine retrofit conversion on the Anthony Veder Coral Anthelia LNG carrier.

The M 46 dual fuel engine was designed for electric drive propulsion systems as well as mechanical propulsion systems. Although designed for unlimited operation on LNG, marine diesel oil and heavy fuel oil, the M 46 DF will reach optimal efficiency in gas mode. The M 46 DF was strategically engineered to allow for the retrofitting of current M 43 C engines. Additionally, existing M 32 E engines can be retrofitted to the MaK M 34 DF dual fuel platform. As a result of the synergies between the two platforms, Caterpillar can perform in hull retrofit conversions without having to move the engine block or perform extensive machining.