Compressed

AT&T continued expanding its use of natural gas vehicles (NGV) with an announcement by General Motors that the telecommunications company plans to buy 1,200 of its Chevrolet Express compressed natural gas (CNG) cargo vans for use at its service centers around the nation. GM said this is its largest single order ever for NGVs. AT&T has 2,472 fleet vehicles now running on natural gas and plans to spend $565 million through 2018 to deploy up to 15,000 clean fuel vehicles, mostly NGVs with a mix of electric vehicles and hybrids (see Daily GPI, March 2, 2011). AT&T operates a fleet of more than 73,000 vehicles.

Big rig truckers and fleet operators contemplating the purchase of a natural gas-fueled rig have several things to consider. One is the availability of fuel. Compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) don’t share the same availability characteristics, according to Kenworth Truck Co.’s Andy Douglas, national sales manager for specialty markets.

California-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp.’s compressed natural gas (CNG) conversion kit manufacturer, BAF, has received clearance from California air quality regulators to sell its 2012 dedicated CNG Ford Motor Co. Transit Connect taxis in the state. The certification from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is effective immediately, according to Dallas-based BAF. In this case CNG is used in traditional gasoline internal combustion engines that BAF modifies to operate on natural gas (see Daily GPI, Sept. 27). As a Clean Energy subsidiary, BAF has been certified by Ford to convert standard Transit Connect taxis to run on CNG. BAF said it already has CARB authorizations for other 2012 utility and shuttle models, and it has federal Environmental Protection Agency authorization for CNG-powered versions of Ford vans, shuttles and pickup trucks.

In the heart of biofuel country, an engineering professor’s research has identified compressed natural gas (CNG) as the most sustainable among a variety of alternative auto transportation fuels. The findings were summarized in an obscure academic journal article earlier this year that has drawn little interest from the gas industry or alternative transportation sector.

In the heart of biofuel country, an engineering professor’s research has identified compressed natural gas (CNG) as the most sustainable among a variety of alternative auto transportation fuels. The findings were summarized in an obscure academic journal article earlier this year that has drawn little interest from the gas industry or alternative transportation sector.

A compressed natural gas-fueled Freightliner M2 112 delivered to Ryder System Inc. Tuesday was the 1,000th natural gas truck delivered by Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA), which claims to be the first commercial vehicle manufacturer to reach that milestone. The truck was manufactured at DTNA’s plant in Mt. Holly, NC. Portland, OR-based DTNA reported combined sales of 3,600 natural gas vehicles to date. As part of a $16 million allocation to promote clean transportation fuels, the California Energy Commission earlier this year approved a $1.28 million grant to DTNA for 40 heavy-duty natural gas-fueled vehicles in a buy-down program (see Daily GPI, May 27).

Atlanta Gas Light Inc.’s (AGL) proposal to establish over the next five years a network of compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations was approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) in Atlanta Tuesday.

The first field demonstrations began Tuesday of a micro “fueling station in a box” technology for refueling compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered fleet vehicles at Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) utility, one of several public and private organizations participating in the demonstration.

The promise that shale natural gas holds to transform Ohio’s economy — and that of the nation — is too great to dismiss because of “misconceptions” about hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Gov. John Kasich said Thursday.