How CNG Paves a Clean Path to Sustainability

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is the leading alternative fuel in the refuse and recycling industry for a reason: it presents a realistic solution for smog and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, while saving refuse fleet operators money on fuel and maintenance. Here are four key reasons why we think refuse fleets should strongly consider CNG when planning for conversions and new purchases:

1) CNG supports sustainability goals

CNG is methane (CH₄), a small molecule that burns cleanly and can be sourced either from fossil fuel deposits or from the decomposition of food waste, sewage, refuse, or manure. The latter, non-fossil renewable natural gas or RNG, is also referred to as biogas or biomethane and is transported from its source to the point of use by pipeline, then compressed to high pressures and stored on vehicles as CNG. Trucks featuring Agility Fuel Solutions best-in-class CNG fuel systems can interchangeably use conventional natural gas or RNG.

As a low carbon, cleaner-burning fuel, CNG can result in reductions of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to diesel of up to 20% when using conventional natural gas or 90% or more when using RNG. Produced from landfills, dairy farms, and other bio sources.

This is a large part of why Waste Management is transitioning most of their fleet to CNG. Waste Management challenged itself to maximize resource value while minimizing environmental impact and succeed by replacing diesel trucks with natural gas trucks, building a CNG fueling infrastructure, and using technology to streamline and minimize driving routes. Download and read Waste Management’s customer success story to learn more about how CNG helped them increase their savings and enhance their fleet operations.

“It makes economic and environmental sense to deploy CNG trucks right now, and the low cost and maturity of the technology make it possible to do so at scale to reap the benefits of lower emissions, cost-benefits and keep pace with the industry,” said Eric Bippus – SVP, Sales and Marketing, Agility Fuel Solutions.

2) CNG trucks are cheaper to run and much quieter than diesel trucks

Running CNG trucks instead of diesel can save fleet operators significant amounts of money.

First, CNG fuel prices at the pump are significantly lower than diesel, partly because the fuel is cheaper to begin with, and in the case of RNG because renewable fuel credits (“RINs”) and California low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) credits are partially passed along to the end user to incentivize fleets to convert to CNG.

Second, CNG prices are more stable than diesel prices. Only a small part of the cost of CNG at the pump is the cost of natural gas or biogas as a commodity. Most of the cost is fixed, particularly depreciation of the fueling station equipment like compressors and dispensers. By contrast, a large part of the delivered price of diesel fuel is the underlying price of crude oil. As a result, as crude oil and natural gas commodity prices move up and down, diesel prices move much more than CNG prices.

Third, CNG can help fleets reduce their maintenance and operating expenses. Because natural gas is a small molecule that burns cleanly, emissions aftertreatment on a CNG truck is a simple three phase catalyst. There is no need for expensive and maintenance-intensive diesel particulate filters or SCR systems.

As an added benefit, spark-ignited natural gas engines are much quieter than diesel engines. In fact, one 9L diesel engine idling is louder than ten 9L natural gas engines idling together. This can make a big difference to drivers and collection workers and is an important point for refuse collection fleets in areas with early morning routes and/or noise restrictions.

3) Picking the right clean transportation systems partner can enable success

And after a fleet chooses CNG, there are further opportunities to save money by selecting the right clean fuel systems partner.

Because CNG on-board fuel takes up approximately four times the volume of diesel, CNG storage can be a large and complex system on a truck. Having a lightweight, durable, and reliable CNG storage system helps keep costs down. Agility Fuel Solutions is a vertically integrated manufacturer of fuel storage systems, as well as lightweight carbon composite CNG cylinders. Having end-to-end design, manufacturing, and aftermarket support in house, Agility can deliver quality, low-cost, reliable products to fleets and to stand behind it with parts, service, and training.

4) CNG is the now

The best part about CNG? You do not have to wait for new technology to be vetted for the market. CNG is ready today and has been proven and deployed at scale by major fleets like Waste Management and Republic, and by regional and family-owned refuse fleets of all sizes since the 1990s.

In addition to being cleaner and cheaper to operate than other fuel options, CNG is widely used already in transit and refuse fleets and in tens of thousands of trucks in North America.

Because the technology is proven and already manufactured in scale by Agility and others in the value chain, refuse fleets can deploy CNG in their fleets with payback periods less than two years, while fleets utilizing RNG can see returns at an even quicker rate, not to mention a less than zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Click here to learn more about Agility’s Natural Gas fuel solutions for Refuse Fleets.

About Agility Fuel Solutions

Agility^® Fuel Solutions, a business of Hexagon Composites, is a leading global provider of clean fuel solutions for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Agility and its affiliates’ product offerings include natural gas, hydrogen, and battery electric energy storage and delivery systems, Type 4 composite natural gas cylinders, propane and natural gas fuel systems, and propane dispensers. Agility offers solutions for a variety of vehicle types, including Class 8 trucks, refuse trucks, transit buses, school buses, concrete mixers, and medium duty delivery trucks. Agility has been manufacturing and servicing safe and reliable clean fuel solutions for commercial vehicle fleets and OEMs for more than 20 years, logging billions of miles on the road per year.

Learn more at https://agilityfuelsolutions.com and follow @agilityfuelsolutions on Twitter and LinkedIn.