by Jeff Twardy | May 19, 2016 | Articles, May 2016 Newsletter
By: Kristie Kubovic, Director of Communications, Shale Media Group Images Provided By: ProGas, Inc. and Sarver Landscape Maintenance Company Since 1946, Sarver Landscape Maintenance Company has been servicing Western Pennsylvania. The landscape maintenance company serves commercial properties, which include institutional, corporate, multi-family development, and industrial sites. After three generations the landscaping and maintenance company is now on the cutting edge. Sarver’s just replaced six of their gasoline-powered mowers with propane-powered ones. Adam Sarver, President, Sarver Landscape Maintenance Company, spearheaded the project. Sarver says the company decided to make the switch for a few reasons. “The biggest reason is the ability to control our costs. Plus a benefit of it is the ability to market and push for a green, smaller carbon footprint in an industry where all we really do is burn fuel,” relayed Sarver. “If we’re able to reduce our carbon footprint and at the same time control costs, it’s a win-win.” In terms of mowing, Sarver Landscape Maintenance Company is not the first in Western Pennsylvania to make this transition; however, they are among the first. The transition to propane mowers has been more popular in other parts of the country, such as California, Florida, Texas, New York, and Washington DC. Sarver first discovered the option of powering mowers with propane from reading industry magazines and looking into the sustainability of where fuel charges are going. After weighing the information, Sarver sought out Ron Schramm, President, ProGas, at the Tri-State Alternative Fueling Expo. ProGas, Inc. is a propane distributor in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio that services residential and commercial accounts along with propane motor fuel, known as...
by Jeff Twardy | May 19, 2016 | Articles, May 2016 Newsletter
HOUSTON – Washington County officially received its latest compressed natural gas fueling station Thursday, an indication that demand from area company fleets remains strong despite CNG’s price parity with unleaded regular gasoline. During a brief ceremony at a recently reopened Sunoco station at the intersection of Route 519 and the Houston exit of Interstate 79, officials from Sunoco, Columbia Natural Gas of Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Clean Cities Program and Range Resources discussed the latest alternative fuel offering for area motorists. While acknowledging the current price parity between CNG and a gallon of unleaded gasoline – both were listed at $1.99 on the station’s electronic price display Thursday – Sunoco spokesman Jeff Shields said corporate fleets of CNG-equipped vehicles continue to provide the demand for more locations to refuel with natural gas. The main driver behind the newest location was Range Resources, which is also one of the region’s largest producers of natural gas from Marcellus Shale. Range spokesman Mike Mackin noted the station was closed several years ago, “just at the time Range was launching its fleet of CNG vehicles, which is now at around 200 vehicles. It made for a perfect location, right in the middle of our core operating area.” Shields said the Houston location is Sunoco’s third in Western Pennsylvania. It also operates one on the Pennsylvania Turnpike at New Stanton and another at Pittsburgh International Airport. He said adding more locations is a “chicken and egg” proposition. “You have to have suppliers ready to take a chance,” he said, adding with customers like Range that added CNG fleets eases that risk for suppliers. A similar...
by Jeff Twardy | May 19, 2016 | Articles, May 2016 Newsletter
UPS is deepening its commitment to natural gas as a vehicle fuel, announcing an investment of $100 million in 380 new CNG-fueled Kenworth T680 tractors and 12 new CNG fueling facilities, by TruStar Energy. UPS Kenworth fueling with CNG in Denver. The package delivery giant said this morning that it’s spending $100 million for 12 new TruStar Energy stations in eight states and 380 CNG-fueled Kenworth T680 tractors with Agility and Quantum fuel systems The new Kenworth tractors will have CNG fuel cylinder assemblies from Agility Fuel Systems and Quantum. Agility says it has an initial order for 135 units and expects to supply back-of-cab assemblies based on the 160-DGE/diesel gallon equivalent unit just unveiled at ATA’s Technology and Maintenance Council meeting in Nashville (F&F, February 29).“At UPS, we own our fleet and our infrastructure. That allows us to invest for the long-term, rather than planning around near-term fluctuations in fuel pricing,” UPS senior VP for global engineering and sustainability Mark Wallace says in today’s release.Four of the 12 Are in Texas “CNG is part of a broad investment in a variety of alternative fuel vehicles. Taken together, all of our alternative fuel vehicles represent 6% of the more than 100,000 UPS global fleet,” Wallace said, “and have driven a 10% annual reduction in use of conventional fuel.” The new Kenworth tractors will have CNG fuel cylinder assemblies from Agility Fuel Systems and Quantum. Agility says it has an initial order for 135 units and expects to supply back-of-cab assemblies based on the 160-DGE/diesel gallon equivalent unit just unveiled at ATA’s Technology and Maintenance Council meeting in Nashville (F&F, February 29). The new investment builds...
by Jeff Twardy | May 19, 2016 | Articles, May 2016 Newsletter
Stations at transit agencies around the state during the next five years. Cambria County Transportation Authority, Johnstown facility (2016), includes public fueling Centre Area Transportation Authority (2016) York Adams County Transportation Authority, York facility (2016), includes public fueling Mid Mon Valley Transportation Authority (2017) Cambria County Transportation Authority, Ebensburg facility (2017) Indiana County Transportation Authority (2017), includes public fueling Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Allentown facility (2017) Westmoreland County Transportation Authority (2017) County of Lackawanna Transportation System (2017), includes public fueling New Castle Area Transportation Authority (2017), includes public fueling Altoona Metro Transit (2017) Beaver County Transportation Authority (2017), includes public fueling Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Easton facility (2017) York Adams County Transportation Authority, Gettysburg facility (2017) Luzerne County Transportation Authority (2017) Crawford Area Transportation Authority (2017) Erie Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2018), includes public fueling County of Lebanon Transportation Authority (2018) Schuylkill Transportation System (2018) Monroe County Transportation Authority (2019) Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, Bradford facility (2019) Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, Johnsonburg facility (2019) Butler Transportation Authority (2019) Mercer County Regional Council of Governments (2019) DuBois, Falls Creek, Sandy Township Joint Transportation Authority (2020 Transit Authority of Warren County (2021) Capital Area Transit (2021) Port Authority of Allegheny County (2021) John Paul, executive director of the Butler Transit Authority, says the agency will convert all six of its vehicles to run on CNG, and purchase five more to run a commuter route from Butler. Those plans hinged on PennDOT’s plans, he said. “We’ve been planning on going down the CNG road for a number of years, so we’re excited that they’ve been...
by Jeff Twardy | May 19, 2016 | Articles, May 2016 Newsletter
ROUSH CleanTech recently announced the development of a propane autogas fuel system for the Ford F-750 chassis. This platform will meet the growing demand among fleet managers for a propane autogas-fueled, medium-duty chassis for bobtail and box truck applications. “Ford places great value on being a leader in the truck market by building reliable vehicles that consistently outperform competitors,” says Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing for ROUSH CleanTech. “Now fleet managers can purchase an F-750 that not only costs less initially, but also saves money at the pump and uses a clean-operating, American-made fuel.” The Ford F-750 base model comes with a 50-usable-gallon fuel tank, located on the driver side for ease of fueling. An extended tank option is available for those in need of more mileage. Victory Propane, a propane supplier in Michigan, is one of the first in line to purchase the new Ford F-750. “Victory Propane already has 25 Ford F-650s equipped with the ROUSH CleanTech fuel system,” said Gregg Falberg, president of Victory Propane. “We will increase our propane autogas fleet with ROUSH’s first two Ford F-750s, and 13 more have been ordered.” Each propane autogas-fueled truck equipped with ROUSH CleanTech’s Ford F-750 fuel system will emit about 120,000 fewer pounds of carbon dioxide over its lifetime compared to conventionally fueled counterparts. In addition to reducing the emissions of harmful greenhouse gases, fleet managers can also anticipate fuel savings as propane autogas costs up to 40 percent less than gasoline and 50 percent less than diesel. Built on Ford’s 6.8L V10 engine, vehicles with ROUSH CleanTech Ford F-750 technology meet stringent Environmental...
by Jeff Twardy | May 19, 2016 | Articles, May 2016 Newsletter
Bold Citywide partnership proposes to make Pittsburgh data-driven transportation model for the nation PITTSBURGH, PA (March 12, 2016) The U.S. Department of Transportation today named Pittsburgh as one of seven national finalists for the “Smart City Challenge,” a federal initiative that will provide the winning city $50 million to build technology-based systems to address mounting transportation and transit challenges facing cities nationwide. Nearly 80 cities applied for the challenge in February, and today in Austin, Tex., USDOT named Pittsburgh as a finalist, along with Austin, Columbus, Denver, Kansas City, Portland and San Francisco. The Pittsburgh team was awarded $100,000 to finalize its application, which is due in April. The cities will further develop their concepts and the winner will be announced in June. Pittsburgh’s application was the fruit of a City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County partnership led by Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, the Port Authority, and various non-profit and community stakeholders. “Smart Cities is not just about promoting the latest transportation and energy related technology. It’s about applying those efforts to improve the lives of everyday Pittsburghers by building smarter transit corridors and connections, bridging the digital divide and building greater equity in city neighborhoods, realizing the value of new energy opportunities, and reaching those impacted by displacement or isolation,” Mayor William Peduto said. The Pittsburgh team’s application builds upon existing work by the Traffic21 and Metro21 Initiatives at CMU, the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center formed by the City, Allegheny County and the University of Pittsburgh, and other initiatives. It utilizes adaptive transportation systems that evolve over time as technologies improve, and would pilot...
