Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has opened a new natural gas refueling station in Hunts Point, a neighborhood in the South Bronx of New York City.
According to Clean Energy, the station is the first in New York City to offer exclusively renewable natural gas (RNG) for medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fleets.
“A few blocks from here is Hunts Point Market, the largest food distribution center of its kind in the world, resulting in approximately 15,000 truck trips per day,” says Chad Lindholm, vice president of sales for Clean Energy. “This long-envisioned station will serve fleets operating in Hunts Point with a lower-cost alternative to diesel fuel that can lead to substantial reductions in truck-related pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions.”
The Hunts Point station will offer Clean Energy’s Redeem, which is derived from capturing biogenic methane emitted from decomposing organic materials at dairies, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. Redeem enables at least a 70% reduction in carbon emissions when displacing diesel or gasoline, says Clean Energy, citing the California Air Resources Board.
“I applaud and congratulate Clean Energy today on making a renewable natural gas fueling station a reality for Hunts Point trucking fleets in the South Bronx,” says Nivardo Lopez, Bronx borough commissioner with the New York City Department of Transportation. “Natural gas trucks, particularly ones fueled by renewable natural gas, have a tremendously low carbon footprint, which is important for communities disproportionately affected by diesel emissions. The addition of this station now makes possible and plausible the transition of large portions of Hunts Point fleet industries to this cleaner, domestically produced fuel.”
Already preparing to fuel at the station are local fleets that operate natural gas-powered trucks, including Baldor Specialty Foods, Manhattan Beer Distributors and U.S. Concrete.
“Now that the Clean Energy station is in service in Hunts Point, we can continue increasing our CNG fleet,” says Juan Corcino, director of fleet operations at Manhattan Beer Distributors. “The station provides the support we need to confidently upgrade our fleet to 100 percent CNG.”
In addition to Hunts Point, Clean Energy operates four other natural gas stations in New York City. The others are in Brooklyn and at LaGuardia and JFK airports.
The station is not open