UPS and Waste Management see a big future in CNG
Two major companies—UPS and Waste Management—continue to make investments in the future of converted natural gas vehicles.
UPS recently announced it will invest $130 million to buy 730 compressed natural gas vehicles and build five more domestic CNG fueling stations as part of its goal to have a quarter of the new vehicles it buys running on alternative fuels by 2020.
“We strongly believe further investment in our natural gas fleet is a key element to help us achieve our long-term goals for reducing our CO2 emissions,” Carlton Rose, president of global fleet maintenance and engineering for UPS, said in a statement.
Its new CNG fueling stations, most of which are slated to open next year, are planned for Goodyear, Arizona; Plainfield, Indiana; Edgerton, Kansas; Fort Worth, Texas; and Arlington, Texas. UPS currently operates more than 50 natural gas fueling stations across the United States, one in Vancouver, Canada, and one in Tamworth, United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Waste Management recently unveiled a $30 million renewable natural gas facility in Louisville, Kentucky. Its Outer Loop Recycling and Disposal Facility turns waste from a landfill into usable RNG by capturing methane and converting it to pipeline-quality natural gas.
The facility processes up to 5,000 standard cubic feet per minute of incoming landfill gas, which equates to about 2,500 million Btus per day of RNG, or 18,000 diesel gallon equivalents per day—enough to fuel about 800 of the company’s CNG collection trucks.
“Waste Management’s innovative renewable natural gas facilities close the loop by converting discarded waste into beneficial gas that can go into the pipeline and fuel our very own CNG collection vehicles,” Jim Trevathan, Waste Management executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in a company news release.
The Outer Loop RNG facility serves as a model for a planned rollout of additional facilities in the coming years. Waste Management also operates RNG facilities in Illinois and Ohio.