NGVAmerica News Week in Review: February 8, 2016

 

• Love’s Travel Stops Acquires Trillium CNG to Expand CNG Station Network
• NGVAmerica Works to Advance Pro-NGV Legislation in New Mexico
• Funding Opportunity: ALT Fuels Colorado AFV Grant Program
• City of Long Beach Fleet Vehicles Switch to Renewable Fuels
• TruStar Energy Continues to Expand CNG Fueling Network
• Clean Energy Provides Metering for Improved Time-Fill Performance
• Cenergy Solutions Completes Successful Testing of ANG Technology
• Baleària to Build Eco-Efficient LNG Ferry for Service in Mediterranean

 

Love’s Travel Stops Acquires Trillium CNG to Expand CNG Station Network

February 2, 2016

Love’s Travel Stops has entered into an agreement to purchase Trillium CNG. The agreement will add 37 public-access CNG locations to the Love’s network, bringing the number of Love’s-operated public CNG facilities to 65.

“The acquisition of Trillium CNG provides Love’s with a great opportunity to leverage the very best of two companies,” said Frank Love, co-CEO of Love’s. “Trillium’s established network of CNG locations will also allow Love’s to serve new types of customers in new markets while expanding reach to existing customers.”

Trillium CNG provides fuel for thousands of NGVs daily and delivers more than 55 million gallons of CNG per year.

Historically, Love’s has provided solutions for heavy-duty and light-duty fleets. Love’s will begin working with Trillium’s client base, which includes transit authorities, school districts, airport fleets, as well as the general public. Love’s existing Customers will have the option to fill with CNG at any of the Trillium locations, increasing their options considerably.

Trillium is also a single-source provider of CNG fueling facility design, construction, operational and maintenance services. Technicians will maintain the infrastructure at all CNG locations, ensuring the best quality product and minimal disruptions to CNG customers.

The purchase will be made final after regulatory review.

 

NGVAmerica Works to Advance Pro-NGV Legislation in New Mexico

February 8, 2016

The New Mexico House of Representatives has unanimously passed two pieces of legislation that NGVAmerica has promoted in the state to aid in the expanded use of natural gas vehicles. HB176 would update New Mexico law to allow a greater weight allowance for NGVs, bringing the allowable weight up to 82,000 pounds to compensate for the weight of natural gas fuel systems.

House Joint Memorial 5 (HJM5) recognizes the importance of increasing the use of NGVs in the US and New Mexico and tasks two agencies in developing a study on how to build the NGV market within the state. The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources department (EMNRD), General Services department (GSD) and the Economic Development department (EDD) will create a report that identifies how the state can remove obstacles to increase the use of NGVs, federal funding sources, and a plan for alternative fuel corridors within the state. The report will be submitted to the appropriate agencies no later than November 15, 2016.

These bills will now move to the New Mexico Senate.

 

Funding Opportunity: ALT Fuels Colorado AFV Grant Program

February 7, 2016

As part of the ALT Fuels Colorado program, the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) is requesting applications to fund fleet purchases of alternative fuel vehicles (AFV) to improve air quality and incentivize the wide-spread, early adoption of these vehicles in the Colorado Front Range. AFVs under this application include new OEM CNG and CNG bi-fuel vehicles, as well as other AFVs. Funding for AFV purchases is available for public, non-profit and private fleets operating within Colorado’s ozone nonattainment and carbon monoxide maintenance areas. A map of eligible areas can be found here.

ALT Fuels Colorado is funded through the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program and is implemented in partnership with the Colorado Energy Office (CEO), the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA). Under this four-year, $30 million initiative, CEO will administer $15 million for alternative fuel stations and RAQC will administer $15 million for AFVs. The RAQC is in the second year of program implementation. $4 million will be available for vehicles in this funding year.  More information on CEO’s infrastructure funding can be found here.

To complement the CMAQ effort, additional funding for alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure may be available for fleets in Colorado through DOLA’s Impact Assistance Program. Entities eligible for DOLA funding include municipalities, counties and special districts. Inside the RAQC’s ALT Fuels Colorado program area, eligible fleets may be able to apply to DOLA to cover the matching funds required through the RAQC process. DOLA is also incentivizing the purchase of AFVs for eligible fleets located outside the ALT Fuels Colorado program area. More information on DOLA’s vehicle and infrastructure funding can be found here.

In addition, Noble Energy is providing funding for CNG school buses for school districts in the ozone nonattainment area. School districts interested in this funding must first apply to RAQC’s ALT Fuels Colorado. More information on Noble’s program may be found here. In tandem, the RAQC, CEO, DOLA, and Noble programs will work toward ensuring a comprehensive approach to advancing AFV in the State of Colorado.

The ALT Fuels Colorado, Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) Grant Program Application Guide is designed to lead participants through RAQC’s funding process. The guide can be found here. Applicants may submit written clarification questions to Kaylyn Bopp at kbopp@raqc.org or 303.629.5450 ext. 290 until October 16, 2015 5:00 PM MST. The RAQC will post questions and answers to its website www.cleanairfleets.org.

 

City of Long Beach Fleet Vehicles Switch to Renewable Fuels

February 2, 2016

The City of Long Beach, California, which has long employed an award-wining, environmentally friendly fleet, is further raising the bar by using renewable fuels for more than 18 percent of its total vehicle fleet.

“The shift to these renewable fuels is an important part of the City’s commitment to sustainability and greenhouse gas reductions,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “I’m proud that Long Beach has one of the greenest fleets in the United States.”

The City is now using renewable LNG and renewable diesel, which are produced from renewable resources. Both of these renewable fuels cost the same or less than current fuels and do not require any modifications to the City’s vehicles or fueling infrastructure. A total of 393 vehicles are now powered by renewable fuels, out of 2,185 vehicles in the City’s fleet.

In 2003, Long Beach became the first city in the United States to use liquid natural gas (LNG) for its street sweepers. In October 2015, street sweepers and refuse trucks transitioned to using RNG as a fuel source. RNG is sourced from methane from landfills and animal waste that is released into the atmosphere and captured for conversion into RNG. This methane is combusted as renewable gas resulting in greenhouse gas releases that are approximately 21 times less potent than methane released directly into the atmosphere. According to the California Air Resources Board, RNG’s carbon emissions when measured over the lifecycle of the fuel’s production, transport and use, are the lowest of any vehicle fuel that is commercially available.

The switch to RNG is expected to save the City approximately $27,000 per year on its use of more than 826,000 gallons of LNG, thanks in part to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits.

By using renewable RNG and diesel, the City is looking at a potential reduction of more than 6,000 tons of carbon emissions per year. The City’s fleet was recognized as one of the Top 50 Government Fleets in North America for 2015, and was ranked the No. 1 North American Government Green Fleet in 2008.

 

TruStar Energy Continues to Expand CNG Fueling Network

February 8, 2016

TruStar Energy completed 41 stations for public and private use in 2015, almost doubling the number of CNG stations from 2014, and bringing total completed stations by TruStar Energy to 120. This was accomplished during this period of unusually low oil prices.

TruStar is seeing the demand for public and private CNG-fueling stations by fleet owners and operators across the U.S. continue to increase due to natural gas fuel’s more stable pricing, lower carbon footprint, and an attractive ROI for certain applications.

“Despite the low price of oil, the transition to CNG still makes environmental and financial sense for many fleet owners,” said Adam Comora, President of TruStar Energy. “We are seeing strong demand for CNG fueled vehicles and fueling stations in the refuse industry because of the financial benefits and by municipalities where sustainability is of paramount importance. With the right application, larger corporations that operate their own fleets are beginning to shift to CNG because the economics can still be supported and the abundant, domestically produced fuel shields them from the volatility of diesel prices.”

TruStar sees another strong year of construction revenue growth, expansion of TruStar Energy branded public locations, and the continued roll out of a TruStar Energy national service platform.

 

Clean Energy Provides Metering for Improved Time-Fill Performance

February 4, 2016

Clean Energy offers monitoring devices to accurately measure the fuel dispensed to individual vehicles in time-fill applications. Time-fill is used most often for fleets that can park in the same location each night and has advantages such as smaller compression equipment and the ability to refuel simultaneous vehicles. However, the ability for a fleet manager to track the efficiency of vehicles through fuel use is often lost.

Monitoring the amount of fuel dispensed to each vehicle is often cost-prohibitive, with a single meter costing upwards of $2,500. In contrast, Clean Energy engineers have developed a number of options for fleet managers to track the amount of fuel dispensed to each vehicle.

One of these fuel tracking systems was successfully deployed at the Salt Lake County CNG station in 2015.  The Clean Energy Fleet Management System uses a monitoring device on each vehicle to relay accurate information and wirelessly transmit to a fuel management system network.  Fuel consumption numbers, combined with other fuel information and engine performance data, gives fleet managers the ability to more accurately forecast maintenance cycles for their vehicles, thus leading to a more efficient fleet.

 

Cenergy Solutions Completes Successful Testing of ANG Technology

February 4, 2016

Cenergy Solutions has successfully completed its first round of field tests at the Clean World/Refuel CNG station in Sacramento, California. The results showed that four times more bio-methane was stored in the same size Adsorbent Natural Gas (ANG) cylinder compared to a conventional CNG tank without an adsorbent. Cenergy Solutions is continuing to do cycle testing to determine if the adsorbent natural gas will continue to perform at this level over time.

ReFuel currently stores biomethane in two 20,000 gallon storage tanks.  It is believed that they can store up to four times more biomethane gas—and perhaps more—in these tanks with an ANG system. ReFuel contacted Cenergy Solutions to field test the ANG system as a way to enhance their storage volume as production increases from CleanWorld’s digester over time.

“The results exceeded my expectations,” said Gary Fanger, COO of Cenergy Solutions said. “This test was conducted with our Generation I ANG cylinders. With our Generation II ANG cylinders, I expect the storage to substantially exceed the first test results.”

Cenergy Solutions’ ANG technology can be applied to virtually any type of natural gas storage system, including CNG vehicles, fueling stations, natural gas transport trucks and stationary natural gas storage. Cenergy is now retrofitting existing DOT compliant natural gas cylinders with their proprietary ANG system. This equipment will also make it possible to use low pressure (350–500 psi) tanks that are lighter and can be conformed to fit in various areas of empty space in a vehicle.

Cenergy’s technology can create a market for compact, affordable, low-pressure CNG Home Refueling Appliances (HRA’s) that will allow consumers to conveniently fill their vehicles at home by connecting directly to their utility gas line. It will also allow for CNG refueling equipment to be more easily and cost-effectively added to the network of public gas stations and truck stops due to the significantly lower capital investment associated with lower compression requirements.

 

Baleària to Build Eco-Efficient LNG Ferry for Service in Mediterranean

February 8, 2016

Baleària announced it will build an LNG-powered ferry that will be the largest operating in the Mediterranean. The ferry, which will be built at the LaNaval Shipyard, is scheduled to start operations in 2019. The two companies signed a deal for more than $175 million and will provide the option to build a second sister ship in the coming months.

The new vessel will be among the largest in Europe, with a length of over 760 ft., besides being the first passenger ferry to be powered by LNG in the Mediterranean. The ship can reach a speed of 23 knots thanks to three dual fuel engines, which can be used either with natural gas or liquid fuel, and thus allow the company to reduce by more than 40 percent CO2, NOx, and avoid emissions of sulfur and other particular matters, according to Baleària.