Jul 1 2009
The world’s largest natural gas truck fueling station, designed and built by Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE), is now open for business on a 2.9-acre site adjacent to the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
The new public access station, configured to fuel trucks on a 24/7 basis, features two 25,000-gallon liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks, six LNG dispensers, and two compressed natural gas (CNG) dispensers. The Clean Energy station is located on property leased from the Port of Long Beach at Anaheim and I streets. It is specifically designed to support the goals of the San Pedro Bay Ports’ Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) and Clean Truck programs.
Andrew Littlefair, Clean Energy President and CEO, said, “Clean Energy is proud to support the ports and their quest for cleaner air and a clean fuel future by building this landmark LNG/CNG truck fueling station that can provide fuel for several hundred natural gas Port trucks daily.”
He added, “We have seen demand for LNG and CNG fuel grow significantly as major trucking companies secure and deploy new natural gas-powered trucks at the ports. As demand for the environmentally-friendly fuel continues to increase, Clean Energy plans to add 50,000 gallons of fuel storage to the new station’s current capacity, as well as four more LNG/CNG fueling lanes.”
The Ports’ CAAP and Clean Truck programs call for the retirement or conversion of old diesel trucks entering the ports in favor of new diesel and alternative fuel (natural gas) trucks. Natural gas vehicle fuel provides lower emissions than gasoline and diesel, including up to a 23% reduction in greenhouse gases in medium- and heavy-duty applications and up to 30% reductions for light-duty vehicles. The domestic natural gas used by the trucks also reduces America’s dependence on imported oil.
The new station is the second that Clean Energy has opened in the area to serve port drayage trucks. The first, operational since December 2007, is located near the ports at Southern Counties Express, a major port-trucking firm. This station currently supplies approximately 10,000 LNG gallons of fuel on a daily basis.