To meet the growing demand for maintenance facilities that service new and expanding natural gas fleets, Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has created a Facilities Modification Services business unit that will offer a range of solutions from basic consulting and design, to turn-key modification projects.
Tim Newman, currently Clean Energy’s director of grants, has been appointed general manager of the new unit.
Clean Energy says the group will work with long-haul trucking companies, municipalities, refuse haulers, taxi and other fleet vehicle operators to ensure their maintenance facilities are code-compliant and are able to maximize the cost savings and environmental benefits of fueling with natural gas.
“The good news is a significant number of new natural gas vehicles are hitting the road every day, which has created the need for more natural-gas-compliant maintenance facilities to take care of these expanding fleets,” says Mitchell W. Pratt, Clean Energy’s chief operating officer. “Clean Energy will now be able to respond to this growing demand with our new Facilities Modification group which will be led by a talented executive. Tim comes to the job uniquely qualified through his years of valuable experience and knowledge of the natural gas fueling industry.”
“As with the other sectors of natural gas fueling, Clean Energy has taken the right steps to be the leader in providing the best solutions for customers to maintain their NGV fleets,” says Newman. “We have built more natural gas fueling stations and converted more vehicles to run on natural gas than any other company in the U.S. I look forward to taking Clean Energy’s bench strength of engineering, construction and technology into this new opportunity.”
Natural gas fuel costs up to $1.50 less per gasoline-gallon equivalent than gasoline or diesel based on current market conditions. The use of natural gas fuel not only reduces operating costs for vehicles, but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions up to 30 percent in light-duty vehicles and up to 23 percent in medium-to-heavy-duty vehicles, Clean Energy says.
The U.S. Department of Energy reports that 98 percent of the natural gas consumed in the U.S is sourced in the U.S. and Canada, making natural gas a secure North American energy choice.
