Fleets have a variety of renewable decarbonization methods jostling for their attention, among them natural gas power, developing hydrogen engines, hydrogen fuel cells, and growing battery-electric vehicles. Now, Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has made a large stride in making renewable natural gas (RNG) an accessible option for fuel-efficient assets with the opening of a new station in Groveport, Ohio.
The station will be available for Amazon's fleet and local fleets, providing public access to RNG fuel as part of an agreement between Clean Energy Fuels and the e-commerce giant, which ranks No. 7 on the FleetOwner 500: Top Private Fleets of 2022 list. The Groveport station, according to the agreement, will be the first among many, with 19 refueling stations planned to be operational by the end of 2022.
“Large fleets fueling with RNG have the ability to realize immediate and significant carbon reduction, especially in the heavy-duty truck sector, which could be many years away from meaningful electrification,” said Andrew J. Littlefair, president and CEO of Clean Energy.
See also: Clean Energy cites natural gas progress with financing plan, 'Redeem' RNG
The Groveport station, and others like it, will supplement Clean Energy’s current network of 550 fuel points. The Groveport location itself encompasses 6.7 acres and includes fast-fill dispensers for convenient refills as well as time-fill posts and parking for 52 trucks and their drivers’ personal vehicles. All told, the project is a multimillion-dollar investment and is expected to grow to service heavy- and medium-duty trucks as well.
Clean Energy expects the impact of the Groveport station alone to include the distribution of 700,000 gallons of RNG per year, reducing carbon emissions by 6,848 metric tons, the equivalent of growing 114,133 trees for 10 years, removing 1,489 cars from the road, or reducing 2,750 tons of landfill waste.
To produce that amount of fuel, Clean Energy is partnering with local dairy farms such as South Fork Dairy, owned by Evan Barton and located in Newark, Ohio. The agreement entails a $15 million investment with the dairy facility, providing a template for future agreements with other local providers around the state. With the manure from South Fork Dairy, Clean Energy will develop a digester to produce 500,000 gallons of RNG per year, harnessing the abilities of Barton’s 3,300 dairy cows.
RNG as a fleet fuel source has been heavily endorsed by the California Air Resources Board. Sourced from refined, naturally-occurring gases such as methane and carbon dioxide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has seen a massive growth in agriculture-related RNG projects since 2017 as the industry added 90 endeavors in the past five years.
Such projects also have added to what has been referred to as the "messy middle" of electric, hybrid, and alternative-fuel development, including the growth of hydrogen-powered engines, dual fuel usage, and RNG.
