NGVAmerica News Week in Review: April 3, 2017

• Shipley Energy, Clean Energy Fuels Open CNG Station in Pennsylvania
• Upcoming Workshop to Discuss Natural Gas Trucks Operating at California Ports
• American Power Group Receives Third Follow-Up Conversion Order
• Piedmont Natural Gas Opens New Facility, Site of Future CNG Station
• CNG Source Launches New Line of Natural Gas Fueling Equipment
• Shipley Energy, Clean Energy Fuels Open CNG Station in Pennsylvania
• CARB Maintains Emissions Program Through 2025
• IVECO Presented with NGV Global Industry Champion Award in Rotterdam

Shipley Energy, Clean Energy Fuels Open CNG Station in Pennsylvania

March 31, 2017

Shipley Energy announced the opening of York County Pennsylvania’s first public CNG station built in partnership with Clean Energy Fuels. Shipley says the station will allow the company to fuel its own CNG-powered tanker trucks and make the cleaner burning fuel available to the public. The station is conveniently located near to Route 30 and Interstate 83 to help attract CNG fleet vehicles passing through the area, as well as local operators.

“Commercial fleets are rapidly expanding their use of CNG as technology improves since it offers a clean, cost-efficient alternative to diesel and gasoline,” said Matt Sommer, President and COO of Shipley Energy.

Shipley Energy recently added five dedicated CNG Class 8 trucks to its fleet, with plans to add more in the future. Companies such as FedEx and Frito Lay that already use natural gas vehicles and have existing national accounts with Clean Energy will be among the most frequent users of the new station. Prior to Shipley’s installation, the nearest public dispensers to York County were in Lancaster, Carlisle, Harrisburg, and Baltimore.

“Growing our network of stations is a large part of our core business, and partnering with energy providers like Shipley Energy, combines that network with a growing customer base,” said Andrew J. Littlefair, CEO of Clean Energy. “We completed 62 of these types of construction projects last year, and we’re planning on having another strong year in 2017.”

 
Upcoming Workshop to Discuss Natural Gas Trucks Operating at California Ports

April 3, 2017

The California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition and the California Natural Gas Vehicle Partnership are hosting a workshop Tuesday, April 25 to discuss the deployment of trucks with ultra-low NOx natural gas engines fueled with renewable natural gas at ports in California. The discussion will explore how these port trucks can deliver power, performance, and reliability; accelerate the wide-scale deployment of cost-effective near-zero-emission trucks; set Southern California on a path toward achieving healthy air in the near-term; and stimulate local economic development and job creation.

Workshop Details:

• Date:Tuesday, April 25, 2017
• Time:9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Location:Banning’s Landing, 100 E Water St., Wilmington, CA 90744

The workshop is complimentary for truck fleets, port staff, public agencies, and non-profits.

Workshop space is limited. Visit the workshop website to secure your spot.

American Power Group Receives Third Follow-Up Conversion Order

March 27, 2017

American Power Group (APG) has received the third $100,000 follow on purchase order from a Midwest-based fleet for APG’s V5000 Turbocharged Natural Gas Dual Fuel Systems.  This order will be installed by one APG’s newest dealer-installers, Rush Truck Centers, and includes the Momentum Fuel Technologies CNG fueling system.

“This order marks another customer who has converted cumulatively more than 20 vehicles in their fleet to APG’s Turbocharged Natural Gas Dual Fuel solution over an extended period of time,” said Lyle Jensen, APG’s Chief Executive Officer.

In November 2016, APG announced signing a multi-year Dual Fuel Dealer/Installer Agreement with Rush Truck Centers to initially cover fourteen states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, and Texas. Rush Truck Centers, the largest network of commercial vehicle dealerships in the United States, with more than 100 dealership locations in 21 states represents truck and bus manufacturers, including Peterbilt, International, Hino, Isuzu, Ford, Mitsubishi, IC Bus and Blue Bird.

Piedmont Natural Gas Opens New Facility, Site of Future CNG Station

March 30, 2017

Piedmont Natural Gas celebrated the opening of a new $8 million Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED)-eligible facility that will be the future site of a CNG station. Piedmont says the new fueling facility will take the place of Piedmont’s existing CNG station on Wilkes Road.

“Piedmont Natural Gas is proud to serve Fayetteville and Cumberland County, and our new customer contact and resource center is a tangible symbol of our commitment to and investment in the communities we serve,” said Frank Yoho, head of gas operations for Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy.

The new facility will be home to a customer contact center and resource center, and will also include space for training, a fabrication shop and warehouse. A 9,000-square-foot utility building and storage shed are also located on the site.

For the Fayetteville project, Piedmont opted for the inherently more sustainable choice of renovating an existing structure rather than new construction, reusing and recycling building materials when possible and reducing raw material usage.

CNG Source Launches New Line of Natural Gas Fueling Equipment

March 30, 2017

CNG Source, a leading provider of compressed natural gas solutions for fueling stations, has launched the Fuel Ranger Pro line of natural gas fueling equipment for private stations. The new line simplifies most of the complexity and cost associated with deploying CNG equipment for small and mid-sized companies and fleet in need of a private fueling station.

CNG Source says its state-of-the-art equipment is the culmination of many years of work, data gathering and user experience analysis. The Fuel Ranger Pro completes CNG Source’s portfolio of CNG equipment and solutions for the natural gas vehicles segment. The company’s new family of product ranges from an output of 10 GGEs per hour for the smallest, up to 48 GGEs per hour for largest with the possibility of doubling these figures with the duplex units.

The Fuel Ranger Pro is available to meet initial orders in the US and Mexico. The line will later be offered worldwide through distributors specializing in equipment for CNG stations and fleets.

CARB Maintains Emissions Program Through 2025

March 30, 2017
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted unanimously to continue with the vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards and zero-emission vehicle program for cars and light trucks sold in California through 2025.

The action ensures that California and 12 other states that follow its vehicle regulations will move forward greenhouse gas emission standards adopted in the 2012 process involving the federal government, California and the automakers.

The Board also voted to support the expansion of the zero-emission vehicle marketplace before 2025, calling for redoubling current efforts underway to support market growth and paving the way for new regulations to rapidly increase the number of zero-emission vehicles required to be sold in California after 2025.

We invite the global industry to bring us their best cars and trucks and take advantage of the willingness of our leaders to provide a broad range of incentives to help make these vehicles affordable,” said CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols. “And we also invite them to come sit down with us if they have specific concerns about implementation of the existing regulations that can be addressed without weakening the impact overall.”

The Board vote was supported by representatives from the 12 states that have adopted California’s standards. Those states together have a population of 113 million and constitute roughly 30 percent of the nation’s new car sales. Senior environmental officials from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon testified at today’s hearing to urge the Board’s approval.

The Board action affirmed the comprehensive, multi-year staff assessment and analysis that concluded that the standards for model years 2022-25 are appropriate and feasible. The staff assessment found that the technology to achieve them is not only currently available, but has exceeded the original expectations, both for level of development and cost, when the standards were adopted with automaker support in 2012.

The Board’s vote reached the same conclusion as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its final determination in January on the federal greenhouse gas emission standards for model years 2022-25.  Last week, however, the Trump administration rescinded that decision, and announced that it intends to reconsider the final determination in coordination with the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency, which is responsible for setting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards.

The staff Midterm Review report is available here.

IVECO Presented with NGV Global Industry Champion Award in Rotterdam

​​​​​March 27, 2017

IVECO has won the “NGV Global Industry Champion” Award 2017 in recognition of IVECO’s pioneering work in developing a full range of natural gas vehicles over the past 20 years. The award is sponsored by NGV Global, the International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles, and was presented in Rotterdam, Netherlands at the NGV GLOBAL 2017 Gala Dinner on Wednesday, March 22.

“IVECO’s focus on natural gas propulsion, offering methane-powered alternatives (including biomethane) on its entire commercial vehicle product range, significantly contributes to the reduction of transport-related emissions,” said Diego Goldin, Executive Director of NGV Global.

​The biennial award recognizes initiatives and programs implemented by companies to develop and improve the natural gas sector around the world. The NGV Global board selected IVECO for the award based on criteria that included the progress made in the use of natural gas as an alternative fuel and the contribution to growing the natural gas vehicle market worldwide. The jury looked at the impact of the activities of the brand at national, regional and global level.

The “NGV Global Industry Champion” award is the latest of numerous national and international awards won this year by the Stralis NP. They include the “Project of the Year” 2017 award at the European Gas Awards of Excellence in Vienna, and the Spanish “Vehículo Industrial Ecologico del Año” (Ecological Industrial Vehicle of the Year) 2017 prize, which came on the back of the recognition received by the Stralis NP at last year’s Green Fleet Awards 2016 in the UK.