In the United States (US), Clean Energy Fuels Corporation (Clean Energy), the largest provider of the cleanest fuel for the transportation market, has announced new supply deals for renewable natural gas (RNG), as it forges ahead with development projects to meet the growing demand for the sustainable fuel made from organic waste.
Operating a vast network of fueling stations across North America, the company is on a mission to decarbonize transportation through the development and delivery of RNG.
As fleet operators of large vehicles look at the entire alternative fuel landscape, RNG continues to rise to the top as they consider carbon reduction, ease in fueling, reliability, and cost. We continue to add new customers across all transportation sectors as they realize the benefits of RNG fueling, said Chad Lindholm, Clean Energy Fuels SVP for Sales.
California Transportation Dynamics (CTD) in Commerce, California (CA), a leading trucking company for 25 years, has signed a fueling agreement with Clean Energy for approximately 1.2 million gallons (≈ 4.5 million litres) of RNG for the length of the contract. CTD is migrating 40 diesel trucks to units powered by RNG.
In today’s legislative climate it gets harder and harder for transportation companies to stay in business. We are thankful for Clean Energy’s assistance and advocacy to help us upgrade our fleet into compliant clean trucks, said Ed Rosas, CEO, CTD.
National Ready Mixed Concrete in Encino, CA has signed a fueling agreement for an estimated 130 000 gallons (≈ 492 000 litres) of RNG to power 13 trucks.
The City of Claremont, CA has signed a multi-year fueling agreement to power 20 refuse trucks with an anticipated 400 000 gallons (≈ 1.5 million litres) of RNG.
NGL Logistics in Gardena, CA has added six new natural gas trucks to its fleet that will replace diesel trucks and will fuel with an expected 260 000 gallons (≈ 984 000 litres) of RNG.
This is our first time deploying RNG trucks and they are running extremely well for our operations, NGL Logistics is proud that we can help reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality. We understand that this is a necessary environmental change and with our RNG-powered trucks we are closer to achieving that goal for our industry, said J.J. Lee, President of NGL Logistics.
In its first foray into converting its fleet to natural gas trucks, Gen Logistics, which services the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, has signed a fueling contract with Clean Energy for an anticipated 30 000 gallons (≈ 113 500 litres) of RNG to power new trucks.
Growth in vehicles and infrastructure
Clean Energy Fuels added a large new transit customer, Trinity Metro, which serves Fort Worth, Texas (TX) one of the fastest growing large metropolitan areas in the US.
The agreement is for the operations and maintenance of 184 buses that will fuel with an expected 10.5 million gallons (≈ 39.7 million litres) for the length of the contract.
Howard Logistics and Solutions in Dallas, TX has signed a fueling agreement for approximate 105 000 gallons (≈ 397 400 litres) of CNG to power its trucks.
Clean Energy Fuels was awarded a multi-year maintenance contract for another large new agency, Arlington Regional Transit (ART), in Arlington, Virginia (VA). ART’s station fuels 70 CNG buses an estimated 750 000 gallons (≈ 2.8 million litres) annually.
Washington Metro Area Transit Authority has renewed an operations and maintenance contract with Clean Energy for its two Washington DC area CNG stations that fuel 480 transit buses with an expected four million gallons (≈ 15.1 million litres) annually.
The City of Mesa, Arizona (AZ) has signed an operations and maintenance agreement for its refuse station which fuels 72 solid waste trucks with approximately one million gallons (≈ 3.7 million litres) of CNG.
The City of Lexington, Kentucky (KY) has added seven new CNG refuse trucks to its fleet, expanding its existing fueling agreement by an anticipated 56 000 gallons (≈ 211 900 litres).
The City also granted a renewal of its 5-year operations and maintenance (O&M) contract for the station.
Clean Energy Fuels has been awarded a contract to construct a fueling station for Elizabethtown Gas, a subsidiary of South Jersey Industries, to fuel 40 new natural gas refuse trucks for Waste Management in Lafayette, New Jersey (NJ).
The contract includes a multi-year repair and maintenance contract with Waste Management and an estimated 350 000 gallons (≈ 1.3 million litres) of CNG annually.
Bison Trucks Group, a shipping company in Orlando, Florida (FL), has signed a fueling agreement for approximately 224 000 gallons (≈ 847 800 litres) of natural gas to fuel 14 trucks.
GFL Environmental, a refuse company in Edmonton, Alberta (AB), Canada has signed an agreement to fuel 33 trucks with an expected 1.5 million gallons (≈ 5.7 million litres) of CNG. In addition to the fueling agreement, the contract includes station improvements and O&M services.
RNG supply advances
Clean Energy Fuels continues to make significant investments in the production of additional RNG sources.
The joint ventures with two of the most sustainability-committed global energy companies, TotalEnergies and bp, allows for the necessary capital to partner with dairy owners around the country.
Construction of the RNG digester at Del Rio Dairy in Friona, TX is near completion, with the commissioning of RNG flow expected to begin in Q4 2022. When operational, the manure from 7 500 milking cows will produce more than a million gallons (≈ 3.8 million litres) of RNG a year.
Significant engineering and development progress has been made at South Fork Dairy in Hart County TX. When complete, the project will produce an anticipated 2.9 million gallons (≈ 11 million litres) of RNG.
Construction is nearing completion at Marshall Ridge, Drumgoon, and Victory dairy farms, located in South Dakota (SD) and Iowa (IA) respectively.
With more than 30 000 cows, these dairies have the estimated potential to convert the methane produced from waste into more than seven million gallons (≈ 26.5 million litres) of RNG annually.
At Millenkamp Dairy in Idaho, one of the largest in the country, construction is continuing with the completion of the digester tank slated for early 2023.
Clean Energy Fuels has also broken ground on two additional projects—Ash Grove Dairy in Minnesota (MN) and Tri-Cross Dairy in SD.
We continue to make great progress on our RNG supply goals that we stated at the beginning of the year. Dairy owners are looking for a partner that can give them a known market as they develop their RNG supply, and no other company can do that like Clean Energy, said Clay Corbus, SVP, and Head of Renewable Fuels.
