St. Louis-based Laclede Group said Thursday it has joined with a unit of Siemens Industry Inc. to launch a fueling system for compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles called Spire that will be introduced later this year at a commercial/public fueling facility at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

The partners are betting that “natural gas will play a big role in our transportation future,” according to Mike Spotanski, Laclede senior vice president.

“As fleet managers shift from gasoline and diesel to natural gas vehicles, Laclede and Siemens are leading the way with Spire, which meets the full spectrum needs of fleet managers including station design, construction and operation,” Laclede said.

For transit agencies, Laclede is looking at savings of 30%, or $12,000/year, on fuel costs per bus as natural gas continues to be significantly lower priced on a per-gallon basis compared to gasoline and diesel.

Siemens’ Clark Wiedetz, alternative/renewable energy director, said his company is looking for “new ways to support city and county infrastructure in helping drive more use of CNG in commercial-size vehicles.”

Siemens and Laclede have been working with the airport and St. Louis city officials on getting the final approvals for launching the Spire system on a one-acre portion of a major parking lot for the airport. Eventually, the facility is envisioned as providing 24-hour service, fueling 160 fleet vehicles already on the road in the area, including parking shuttle vehicles.

Siemens said the St. Louis location will be the first installation of the Spire technology, but eventually it hopes to spread it across the nation.

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