Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a provider of clean fuels to the transportation market, says the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) has signed a new agreement for an estimated 47.5 million gallons of renewable natural gas (RNG) to fuel its transit bus fleet.
This agreement will mark the completion of LA Metro’s five-year goal to transition its diesel fleet to cleaner, low-carbon fuel. The agency now has 2,400 buses running on RNG – the first renewable and commercially available vehicle fuel made entirely from organic waste.
“LA Metro is committed to ensuring a seamless path towards a carbon-neutral future,” says Cris Liban, chief sustainability officer of LA Metro. “Our use of RNG alongside our ultra-low NOx engines on our existing CNG fleet provides the most cost-effective, equitable and clean air strategy as we continue to transition to a 100% zero-emissions bus fleet by 2030 and a net zero-emissions agency by 2050.”
The fueling contract resulted from a competitive request for proposal (RFP) process, with LA Metro awarding Clean Energy three fueling depots for a five-year term – with an option to extend up to three additional years. Clean Energy already delivers RNG to five additional LA Metro fueling depots under a previously awarded RNG agreement.
Over the five-year period, the transition to RNG will further reduce LA Metro’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions significantly compared to the use of conventional natural gas, driving down the agency’s Scope 1 emissions. Additionally, LA Metro has been retrofitting and replacing its buses with the Cummins Westport low-NOx CNG engines that reduce smog-forming NOx to 90% lower than the EPA NOx limit.
Clean Energy’s RNG is derived from capturing the biogenic methane produced by the decomposition of organic waste from dairies, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. RNG reduces climate-harming GHG emissions by at least 70% – and even up to 300% depending on the source of the RNG – making it a negative carbon fuel.
