Fuel for Thought
While you’ve probably noticed the surging interest in the use of natural gas by waste fleet operators around the nation, you may not be aware of just how much of an impact it is having on the industry as a whole, and most particularly some of its largest players. So if you have yet to take a peek at NGV Fleet Manager, the natural gas vehicle (NGV) supplement tucked into this issue between pages 22 and 23, please plan do so, and then give us your thoughts.
To be perfectly honest, this one caught me off guard, since I remembered the troubles our local transfer operation had trying to field NGVs back in the early 1990s. After a combination of performance and refueling challenges brought the test program to a premature halt, I filed NGVs away in my “Nice Try” folder, recalling with amusement the difficulty those heavily laden vehicles had in conquering the steep grade leading from the Coast Highway up to the working area of our local landfill…a task occasionally causing their drivers to hoist the white flag in the effort. True, the performance issue was overcome with the change from manual to automatic transmissions, but refueling issues brought about by an inadequate dispensing system proved to be a door slammer for the effort.
So what’s happened in the intervening years to bring NGVs back into view? Why the interest now? What are its challenges and opportunities? What does the future hold for NGVs? The simple answers are (1) better engines, (2) better infrastructure, (3) better business options, and (4) popular (government) support. These are the stuff and substance of the Supplement, so you will want to read and digest what’s there.
From where I sit, it seems pretty clear that those looking into the purchase of collection vehicles—especially those intending to operate in territories failing to meet clean-air standards or otherwise falling under the aegis of an air-quality-management district—will want to pay serious attention to how NGVs might fit your fleet profile in the Tier 4 Interim and Final environments.
The challenges NGVs face are both real and daunting:
- The premium for the engines (estimated to add from $35,000 to $55,000 per vehicle than for its diesel counterpart)
- The substantial cost and space requirements of storage and dispensing systems, be they for the liquefied (LNG) or the compressed (CNG) forms of natural gas
- Concern for radical swings in the price for natural gas, which has been subject to extreme volatility over the past decade—rising from a low of $2.50 in 1999 to its current level of $4.60, with spikes of $8.20 in 2005 and $9.10 in 2008—introduces a level of fiscal uncertainty that lenders might be unwilling to accept.
But the advantages to their adoption, while perhaps less real for the moment than the challenges, are well worth considering from a number of standpoints. As T. Boone Pickens points out in his thoughtful Guest Editorial on page 12 of the supplement, NGVs have a number of advantages, foremost among which are:
- Reduced maintenance, because natural gas burns cleaner and produces fewer combustion deposits than diesel;
- Ready access to fuel, since pipes for its transport lie beneath nearly every street in your city;
- Potential fuel-cost advantage over diesel, where, as at the present time with the cost of oil hovering around $70.00/bbl, NGVs come out ahead in an equivalent energy comparison;
- Decreased pollution as well as greatly reduced controls for dealing with the remaining emissions; and
- Weighing heavily in its favor is the decrease in fuel imports through the use of what Pickens calls America’s Fuel.
Other advantages include a variety of local and federal incentives, including a $32,000 tax credit for privately owned fleets.
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While the global climate change/carbon reduction situation is relatively quiet for the moment, there can be little doubt that those issues are alive and well and gathering momentum for the future. Just what and how much their impact will be over the next several years is the stuff that keeps the crystal ball contingent in business, but it’s a pretty safe bet that we will find our “carbon footprint” under the microscope…especially where a large portion of it involves collection vehicle operations.
So with these thoughts in mind, please read, enjoy, and give serious consideration to the information presented in this issue’s NGV supplement.
Author's Bio: John Trotti is the Editor of MSW Management magazine.
March-April 2010
Fuel for Thought
While you’ve probably noticed the surging interest in the use of natural gas by waste fleet operators around the nation, you may not be aware of just how much of an impact it is having on the industry as a whole, and most particularly some of its largest players. So if you have yet to take a peek at NGV Fleet Manager, the natural gas vehicle (NGV) supplement tucked into this issue between pages 22 and 23, please plan do so, and then give us your thoughts.
To be perfectly honest, this one caught me off guard, since I remembered the troubles our local transfer operation had trying to field NGVs back in the early 1990s. After a combination of performance and refueling challenges brought the test program to a premature halt, I filed NGVs away in my “Nice Try” folder, recalling with amusement the difficulty those heavily laden vehicles had in conquering the steep grade leading from the Coast Highway up to the working area of our local landfill…a task occasionally causing their drivers to hoist the white flag in the effort. True, the performance issue was overcome with the change from manual to automatic transmissions, but refueling issues brought about by an inadequate dispensing system proved to be a door slammer for the effort.
So what’s happened in the intervening years to bring NGVs back into view? Why the interest now? What are its challenges and opportunities? What does the future hold for NGVs? The simple answers are (1) better engines, (2) better infrastructure, (3) better business options, and (4) popular (government) support. These are the stuff and substance of the Supplement, so you will want to read and digest what’s there.
From where I sit, it seems pretty clear that those looking into the purchase of collection vehicles—especially those intending to operate in territories failing to meet clean-air standards or otherwise falling under the aegis of an air-quality-management district—will want to pay serious attention to how NGVs might fit your fleet profile in the Tier 4 Interim and Final environments.
The challenges NGVs face are both real and daunting:
- The premium for the engines (estimated to add from $35,000 to $55,000 per vehicle than for its diesel counterpart)
- The substantial cost and space requirements of storage and dispensing systems, be they for the liquefied (LNG) or the compressed (CNG) forms of natural gas
- Concern for radical swings in the price for natural gas, which has been subject to extreme volatility over the past decade—rising from a low of $2.50 in 1999 to its current level of $4.60, with spikes of $8.20 in 2005 and $9.10 in 2008—introduces a level of fiscal uncertainty that lenders might be unwilling to accept.
But the advantages to their adoption, while perhaps less real for the moment than the challenges, are well worth considering from a number of standpoints. As T. Boone Pickens points out in his thoughtful Guest Editorial on page 12 of the supplement, NGVs have a number of advantages, foremost among which are:
- Reduced maintenance, because natural gas burns cleaner and produces fewer combustion deposits than diesel;
- Ready access to fuel, since pipes for its transport lie beneath nearly every street in your city;
- Potential fuel-cost advantage over diesel, where, as at the present time with the cost of oil hovering around $70.00/bbl, NGVs come out ahead in an equivalent energy comparison;
- Decreased pollution as well as greatly reduced controls for dealing with the remaining emissions; and
- Weighing heavily in its favor is the decrease in fuel imports through the use of what Pickens calls America’s Fuel.
Other advantages include a variety of local and federal incentives, including a $32,000 tax credit for privately owned fleets.
While the global climate change/carbon reduction situation is relatively quiet for the moment, there can be little doubt that those issues are alive and well and gathering momentum for the future. Just what and how much their impact will be over the next several years is the stuff that keeps the crystal ball contingent in business, but it’s a pretty safe bet that we will find our “carbon footprint” under the microscope…especially where a large portion of it involves collection vehicle operations.
So with these thoughts in mind, please read, enjoy, and give serious consideration to the information presented in this issue’s NGV supplement.