Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has signed a slew of new deals in response to the demand for renewable natural gas (RNG) as more fleets adopt and expand their use of the low-carbon transportation fuel. RNG represents more than 74% of the 26 million gallons of fuel Clean Energy expects to provide through these recent signed agreements.
Clean Energy has a stated goal of providing 100% zero-carbon renewable fuel at its stations by 2025.
“Fleets that are looking to lower their emissions are switching to RNG because it can provide immediate and significant carbon reductions,” states Chad Lindholm, vice president of Clean Energy. “They’re finding that RNG is the easiest and most cost-effective way to meet sustainability goals.”
Clean Energy signed a multi-year agreement with the City of Pasadena for an anticipated 1.5 million gallons of RNG to fuel 53 vehicles, including solid waste, transit buses, dump trucks and street sweepers.
Big Blue Bus, the transit agency that services Santa Monica, Calif., has extended its RNG fueling contract with Clean Energy for five additional years for an anticipated 10 million gallons of RNG to fill its 189-bus fleet.
Gold Coast Transit, which serves Ventura County, Calif., has signed a multi-year fuel supply agreement with Clean Energy for an expected 4.2 million gallons of RNG to fuel 56 buses and 25 paratransit buses and vans.
Clean Energy has entered into a long-term agreement with Cedar Bus Company, of Buffalo, N.Y., to provide an estimated two million gallons of fuel to power 60 shuttle buses that provide paratransit and university transportation.
The City of Sacramento, County of Sacramento, and the City of Redlands have all extended their RNG supply agreements with Clean Energy for an anticipated 1.5 million gallons to fuel refuse trucks and other vehicles.
KALM Energy, based in Lincoln, Neb., has contracted with Clean Energy to take over operations of its three CNG stations that fuel transit buses, refuse trucks, heavy-duty trucks and passenger vehicles with annual gallons estimated at 1 million gallons. The first site fuels the Omaha Metro Transit Agency, and two public access stations, located in Lincoln and Council Bluffs, Iowa, fuel natural gas fleets in the region.
Clean Energy has been contracted by the City of Fort Smith, Ark., to build a $1.8 million station for the city’s sanitation department to fuel refuse trucks and provide maintenance services at the site. Clean Energy has also signed an agreement to provide $380,000 in facility modifications for the city’s sanitation maintenance facility.
The Olathe School District in Kansas has contracted with their transportation provider DS Bus Line to run 30 CNG school buses in place of 30 diesel buses for an estimated 75,000 gallons of CNG per year. DS Bus Line, the transportation operator for Olathe Schools, utilized a grant to purchase CNG school buses. The buses will be deployed and operable for the upcoming school year.
Clean Energy is facilitating station expansions for national solid waste company Republic Services in two additional California locations, allowing it to double the number of RNG-fueled trucks in Sun Valley and accommodating an additional 34 refuse trucks in Pacheco. Clean Energy currently provides RNG for Republic Services trucks in 22 states.
RoadEX, a large California drayage company, is adding 16 new natural gas trucks to their fleet through the Chevron and Clean Energy partnership Adopt-A-Port program. In migrating from diesel fuel to RNG, RoadEx has committed to an approximate 960,000 gallons of RNG over the contract term.
In addition to RoadEx, companies that added natural gas trucks through Adopt-A-Port in the second quarter of 2021 include Total Distribution Service Inc., Supra National Express, JL Xpress Inc., Pac9 Transportation, Atlas Marine, Kargo Transportation, Henean Trucking Inc., France C. Alegre Trucking and NGL Logistics for an anticipated combined total of 1.3 million gallons of RNG.
More than 50 PacLease technicians recently completed TouchPoint training on behalf of Amazon. Clean Energy’s TouchPoint training is becoming an essential customer care resource for companies adopting natural gas vehicles, including Saia LTL Freight, Kehe, TTSI, American Pacific Forwarders, Pac Anchor, STS Logistics, Pacifica, Golden State Peterbilt and Pacific Green. Clean Energy partners with the Natural Gas Vehicle Institute (NGVi) to ensure that fleet managers, supervisors and technicians receive optimal training and support for a successful natural gas vehicle (NGV) launch.