Case study - Pierce County, Washington: home of the first public transit fleet in the country to run on renewable natural gas

Summary:

Li 1986 Pierce Transit was one of the first public transit agencies in the U.S. to trade in its diesel and gasoline-powered buses for buses fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG). 27 years later, this pioneering Agency has just finalized a new contract with the local utility, Puget Sound Energy, to buy an even better fuel: the renewable compressed natural gas (R-CNG). This fuel is produced by Bio Energy Washington (BEW), from the biogases emitted by decomposing wastes at the vast 920-aere Cedar Hills Regional Landfill in King County, WA. According to BEW, it is largest landfill gas-to-pipeline quality gas facility in the nation. The landfill`s proximity to an interstate natural gas pipeline made it possible to get the fuel to market.

143 of Pierce Transit`s 155 buses now run on R-CNG, using the equivalent of about 3,600 diesel gallon equivalents (DGEs) a day. The R-CNG is cleaner than CNG, it generates virtually no soot emissions and decreases carbon on a lifecycle basis by almost 90% (compared to 23% for fossil natural gas). Yet the rate the Transit Agency pays for the fuel is roughly equivalent to the wholesale rate it paid for fossil CNG. According to Pierce Transit`s CEO Lynne Griffith, this move was "just the natural next step." Pierce Transit has been nationally recognized as a clean fuel pioneer by the American Lung Association, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy`s Clean Cities program, among others. The Agency now aims to convert its paratransit fleet (for the disabled) to R-CNG.

Financing:

Having buses powered by CNG and ail existing CNG fueling station, the switch to R-CNG was simple and cost little - other than having to arrange a long-term fuel purchase agreement with Puget Sound Energy. By using R-CNG, renewable identification numbers (RINs) are generated under the EPA`s Renewable Fuel Standard, providing additional financial incentive to utilize this ultra-low-carbon fuel. Pierce Transit also receives a rebate of about $1,000 a month, making the switch from CNG to RNG both environmentally and financially attractive.