WASHINGTON – Grants to clean up or replace older diesel engines under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) have delivered significant health and environmental benefits to communities across America, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report released today. DERA, a bipartisan effort authorized by Congress, provides cost-effective reductions of harmful diesel pollution across the U.S. and particularly in areas where air quality is a concern.

“As this report details, the DERA program is an effective and innovative way to improve air quality across the country while providing children with safer, more reliable transportation to and from school,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Children’s health is a top priority for EPA, and DERA helps fulfill our children’s health agenda and commitment to ensure all children can live, learn, and play in healthy and clean environments.”

Nearly 10 million older diesel engines are operating throughout our transportation infrastructure with no modern emissions controls. While some of these will be retired over time, many will remain in use, polluting America’s air for the next 20 years. The DERA program provides rebates and grant funding to replace these vehicles and engines with equipment that meets or exceeds current emissions standards.

DERA has led to cleaner air across the U.S. by reducing emissions:

• 472,700 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides.
• 15,490 tons of particulate matter (PM).
• 17,700 tons of hydrocarbon.
• 5,089,170 tons of carbon dioxide.

Since 2008, DERA has awarded $629 million in funding to replace or retrofit 67,300 legacy diesel engines. EPA estimates that reducing these harmful pollutants will lead to $19 billion in health benefits and 2,300 fewer premature deaths. EPA estimates that for every federal dollar spent, DERA projects generate between $11 and $30 in public health benefits and over $2 in fuel savings.

The DERA program works to reduce exposure and provide improved air quality in communities where air pollution is of concern, including those near ports, rail yards, and PM and ozone non-attainment areas. Sixty-four percent of projects awarded in fiscal year 2008-2016 were in areas with these air quality concerns.

The Fourth Report to Congress summarizes the program’s accomplishments from fiscal year 2008-2013 and discusses final and estimated results from funding in fiscal year 2014-2016.

For more information on DERA, contact Houston-Galveston Clean Cities Coalition or visit http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel

To access the report, visit https://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/clean-diesel-reports-congress.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy announced $50 million for new and innovative research of technologies for trucks, off-road vehicles, and the fuels that power them.  Funded through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), these selections highlight the DOE’s priorities in gaseous fuels research, including natural gas, biopower, and hydrogen; heavy-duty freight electrification; hydrogen infrastructure and fuel cell technologies for heavy-duty applications; and energy efficient off-road vehicles.

“As the fastest growing fuel users in the United States, it is important our trucking industry has access to  advanced technologies, such as electrification and fuel cells, as a way to move goods efficiently and economically,” said Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes. “EERE has a strong track record of successful investment in the research and development of a broad portfolio of technologies, including electrification, advanced combustion engines, and fuels such as natural gas, hydrogen, and biofuels, that can significantly improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of transportation energy. These selections reinforce DOE’s commitment to sustainable transportation options.”

Economic growth requires the movement of goods. Trucks carry more than 70% of the nation’s freight on both a tonnage and value basis—at some point on their way from manufacturer to consumer, virtually all goods travel by truck. The movement of goods requires energy, and medium- and heavy-duty trucks (Class 3-8) consume 25% of annual vehicle fuel use, despite comprising only 4% of the total number of U.S. on-road vehicles. Off-road vehicles account for 8% of the total energy consumed in the U.S. transportation sector and are used in key domestic industries, including construction, agriculture, and mining. Energy use by trucks is also growing. U.S. Energy Information Administration projections indicate that the freight truck sector’s annual vehicle miles traveled will increase by 54% by 2050.

View the full list of selections selections HERE.

Learn more about the Bioenergy Technologies Office, the Fuel Cell Technologies Office, and the Vehicle Technologies Office.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) announced on August 1 that the agency has issued the first 11 contracts as part of the Texas Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust settlement.

Contracts are made with entities – mostly school districts – that have applied for funds from the trust and will use the money to replace aging diesel school buses, shuttle buses, or transit buses with new models. The contracts specify the funds each applicant will receive as part of the settlement, how they will use the money to achieve the goals of the VW Beneficiary Mitigation Plan for Texas, and requirements for receiving the funds.

Each contract will also include a commitment to operate new buses in one of the seven priority areas identified in the VW Beneficiary Mitigation Plan for Texas. The priority areas are areas monitoring ozone concentrations near or above the National Ambient Air Quality Standard.

The settlement is a result of litigation over emissions control defeat devices that were found to have been installed on vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen (VW) and its subsidiaries. Approximately 590,000 light-duty diesel vehicles in Texas were affected.

As part of settlement agreements, VW must pay approximately $2.9 billion into a trust to be distributed to each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Gov. Greg Abbott designated TCEQ the lead agency for the distribution of Texas’ portion of the settlement funds, which totals approximately $209 million.

These initial 11 contracts are awarded as follows:

• $5,704,160.70 to four entities in the Austin area;
• $5,945,993 to two entities in the San Antonio area;
• $1,391,480 to two school districts in the Houston area;
• $811,800 to two school districts in the Dallas/Fort Worth area; and,
• $729,073 to a school district in Bell County.

The TCEQ plans to issue up to $58.6 million in contracts to applicants who have applied for funds from the trust to repower or replace school buses, shuttle buses, or transit buses. This is the first of multiple grant rounds to spend the $209 million in settlement funds allocated to Texas.

Texas Department of Transportation has launched the campaign, Drive Clean Texas, to provide useful tips on the many ways Texas drivers can contribute to keeping the local air clean.

The Drive Clean Texas website  provides tips, interactive educational materials, as well as a chance to enter a $5000 sweepstakes if you conquer the “Road Trip Challenge“. Answer all five questions correctly and you can enter to win.

TxDoT also developed an interactive page entitled “Road Cents” that provides its visitors with an interactive experience that demonstrates ways to save money and optimize air quality by modifying the way Texans drive and maintain their vehicles.

For educators, there are educational materials already created for all age groups including lesson plans and activity books.

Texans can also use the hashtag #DriveCleanTexas to see/post Instagram photos that intend to raise awareness and reminders on how all drivers can contribute to the quality of the local air.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is now accepting applications under the Texas Clean Fleet Program (TCFP). Approximately $7.7 million in grants is available to encourage entities that operate large fleets of vehicles in Texas to replace diesel-powered vehicles with alternative fuel or hybrid vehicles. Applications will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. CST, Monday, February 18, 2019.

Eligible applicants include entities that own and operate 75 or more on-road vehicles in Texas. Applications may be submitted under the TCFP to replace existing diesel-powered light-duty or heavy-duty vehicles with qualifying hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles. The applicant must commit to replacing at least 10 diesel-powered vehicles.

Eligible alternative fuels under this program include:

• Electricity
• Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)
• Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
• Hydrogen
• Propane (LPG)
• Methanol (M85)

If awarded a grant, at least 25% of the grant-funded vehicles annual use must occur in one or more of the counties within the Clean Transportation Zone.

Interested in learning more? Visit the TCFP web page or join us for a webinar on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. CST. RSVP to the webinar by emailing your name and contact information to terp@tceq.texas.gov.

Have questions? Email terp@tceq.texas.gov or call us at 1-800-919-8377.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – BP p.l.c. (NYSE: BP) and Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE) today announced an agreement which will secure an increased supply of renewable natural gas (RNG) for Clean Energy through Clean Energy’s extensive fueling infrastructure as more fleets are requesting the clean fuel. The agreement enables BP to flow larger volumes to Clean Energy stations as the supply of RNG is expected to rapidly grow over the next several years with a number of new RNG production facilities under construction and more announced. In turn, Clean Energy will share in the incremental environmental credit revenues generated from the incremental RNG volume.

Renewable natural gas fuel, or biomethane, is produced entirely from organic waste. As a fuel for natural gas vehicles, including heavy-duty trucks, it is estimated to result in 70 percent lower greenhouse gas emissions than from equivalent gasoline or diesel fuel vehicles, which makes it the cleanest fuel available anywhere. Clean Energy has grown sales of its Redeem™ branded RNG from 22 million gasoline equivalent gallons (GGEs) in 2014, the first full year it was available, to an expected 100 million GGEs in 2018.

“The growth of our Redeem RNG has been astounding as municipalities and companies all over the country are achieving their sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction goals by switching their fleets,” said Andrew J. Littlefair, Clean Energy’s president and chief executive officer. “This agreement combines BP’s significant investments in RNG projects and supply network with Clean Energy’s vehicle fueling network and will help to create certainty for future RNG project development and continue to accelerate adoption of natural gas vehicle fueling.”

“As one of the largest suppliers of renewable natural gas to the U.S. transportation sector, BP is committed to supporting the transition to a lower-carbon energy future,” said Sean Reavis, BP senior vice president – global environmental products. “Our agreement with Clean Energy reflects that commitment, and we believe today’s announcement will help to accelerate the growth of RNG and promote a more sustainable energy mix.”

Redeem™ renewable natural gas is derived from biogenic methane, biomethane or biogas, which is methane that is naturally generated by the decomposition of organic waste. The methane gas is processed, purified and sent into the interstate natural gas pipeline and is currently made available exclusively to Clean Energy customers.

As part of the NGVAmerica’s 2018 CNG “From Sea to Shining Sea” Road Rally, please join the Texas Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance (TXNGVA) for the 2018 Texas NGV Road Rally. This year’s events will take place on October 30 to November 2, 2018.

Below you will find the dates and locations for the Road Rally:

October 30: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Location: Freedom CNG, 303 Fallbrook, Houston, TX 77038

October 31: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Location: VIA, 1709 N Flores St, San Antonio, Texas 78212

November 1: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Location: US Gain/IFS, 8181 Lancaster, Dallas, TX 75241

November 2: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Location: NCTCOG, 616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington, TX 76011

Register here for all of the events or some of these events. Please be kind and register by October 29.

Stay up to date by following our Facebook and LinkedIn pages at @TexasNGVAlliance.

Featuring Alt Fuel Fleets, Heavy Duty and Idle Reduction Equipment 

9 am – 4 pm
Faust Distributing, 10040 East Freeway, Houston, TX  77029

Clean Cities Technologies Conference Program

Day One – 9 AM – 4 PM

10 am Panel – Electric Vehicles

· Russ Keene, Plug-in Texas – Moderator – “Plug-In Texas”
· Mike Saxton, Orange, E.V. – “Making Electrification Work: How to Successfully Deploy HDEVs”
· Kevin Douglas, Engine2Motor, LLC. and Houston Electric Auto Association- “Engine2Motor, LLC. and Houston Electric Auto Association”

11 am – Keynote Speaker
Gary Cullen, Advanced Energy Machines – “H-E-B’s Use of Solar/EV Refrigeration Technology”

1 pm Panel – Propane Autogas

· Tony Dale, PERC, TX State Representative – “Propane Overview”
· Dudley Westlake, ICOM – “ICOM Liquid Propane Injection Systems”
· Ed Dunmire, Roush – “Propane Autogas and Bluebird School Buses”
· Brian Green, Green’s Blue Flame Gas Company, Inc. – “Ford Fusion Autogas Hybrid”
· Tony Dale, PERC, TX State Representative – “Propane & the Commercial Landscape Contractor”

2 pm Panel – CNG

· Eddie Murray, Freedom CNG – Moderator
· Dudley Westlake, ICOM – “Dual Fuel CNG/Diesel Systems”
· Lynn Lyon, Hexagon Lincoln – “Mobile Pipeline: Enabling Gas Distribution”
· Eme Torlai, Clean Energy – “Renewable Natural Gas for Fleets”
· Fury Zaidi, NGV motori Texas – “CNG Solutions for Heavy Duty Trucking and Local Delivery Trucks”

3 pm Panel – Funding Grants and Pricing Incentives

· Shelley Whitworth, H-GAC – Moderator
· Nate Hickman, TCEQ – “Texas Emissions Reduction Plan Incentives”
· Robert Veazie, H-GAC – “Emission Reduction Incentive Grant Funding Programs”
· Eme Torlai, Clean Energy – “Zero Now” Financing
· Carrington Barfield, HGACBuy – “HGACBuy Green Products”

Day Two – 9 AM – 1 PM – the Houston High Horse Power Summit featuring on-road CNG and LNG off-road applications and power generation panels.

Special Thanks to our Bronze Sponsors Hexagon Lincoln for providing the unique opportunity to see a TITAN® Mobile Pipeline® in the parking lot. With over 1,200 Hexagon Mobile Pipeline units deployed globally, the largest concentration of units is in the Permian Basin. Certarus are bringing their unit from Midland to Houston for this event.

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors