Clean Vehicle Education Foundation

Representing the winners of the 2010 National NGV Achievement Awards are, from left to right, Norman Herrera, Chesapeake Energy Corp., representing Oklahoma Speaker of the House Chris Benge; Brian Heldebrant, Verizon; Glen Miller, Choice Environmental Services; Ron Gulmi, National Grid; Chris Hadvab, representing Joseph Noorlag, Republic Services inc; William Zobel, Trillium, representing the Los Angeles Unified School District; and Richard Kolodziej, President NGVAmerica.

The awards are given jointly by NGVAmerica and the Clean Vehicle Education Foundation, two organizations dedicated to increasing the use of natural gas vehicles to improve air quality, lessening dependence on foreign oil and reducing fleet operator costs.

The honorees were recognized at the associations’ joint Natural Gas Vehicle Conference-Summit August 13 in Boston. This is the 18th year the associations have presented the awards.

Verizon’s new CNG powered cargo vans are expected to save 1.62 million metric tons of C02 a year. Cargo vans are the single largest group of vehicles in the fleet.

The vehicles are being converted by BAF Technologies of Dallas, and the work is being completed at Steelweld Equipment Company in Hemet, Calif., and Temple, Texas and at North American Equipment Upfitters in Hooksett, N.H... The two companies are both women owned businesses and participants in Verizon’s Supplier Diversity Program.

The first units are being put into service this month, and 500 vehicles will be deployed by the end of 2010. The vehicles will be used throughout the country primarily by technicians who install and repair communications system for homes and businesses. The CNG vans will be used in key Verizon markets throughout the country that have retail infrastructure in place for refueling.

This year’s decision to purchase 501 CNG powered vans is the latest step in the company’s overall sustainability program, which included efforts to reduce idling time. In 2009, Verizon’s aggressive energy reduction and recycling measures reduced the company’s CO2 emissions by more than 793 million pounds, approximately the amount of CO2 emitted by 46,700 homes in a year.

Choice Environmental Services

Choice Environmental Services of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has received a 2010 NGV Achievement Award as an innovative example of how a small waste company can implement a natural gas vehicle program, even when there is no mandate to do so.

Choice Environmental Services is a provider of solid waste and recycling services to the community of South Florida. It is the first independent refuse fleet in Florida to roll out compressed natural gas refuse trucks.

In early 2009, Choice approached the City of Fort Lauderdale about offering an innovative environmental way to provide residential waste and recycling services utilizing cleaner, quieter compressed natural gas powered collection vehicles. The use of CNG powered vehicles was on the deciding factors in Choice being awarded a contract in May 2009. In October 2009, Choice began deploying 11 CNG powered collection trucks. To fuel the vehicles, Choice contracted with Clean Energy, to build a private time-fill station located at the company’s facility in Pompano Beach, with natural gas provided by TECO, Florida’s largest natural gas distribution company.

This is what he told his colleagues in the industry: Number One, natural gas is cleaner. Number 2, it’s cheaper – with a savings of 23 percent compared to diesel. Number 3 it is domestic. Number 4, it is 90 percent quieter than diesel at idle. Number 5, performance and maintenance of the trucks have been great. And Number 6, driver acceptance has been overwhelming positive.

Choice is about to build a second station, and it has received a state grant from the Executive Office of the Governor of Florida and the Florida Energy and Climate Commission. This station will be available for both public and private use.

As the second largest school district in the country, the Los Angeles Unified School District has played a critical leadership role in the greening of America’s school bus fleets. Just a few years ago, the district had one of the oldest school bus fleets in the country. With the decision to order 260 new buses this year, the district now has the largest natural gas school bus fleet in the nation.

The district was initially driven by an effort to ensure safe transportation for its students, but it has now adopted a comprehensive program to become the greenest school district in the country.

It began in 2003, when the district adopted the healthy Breathing Initiative, mandating that the school district accept bids to purchase or contract buses that meet strict emission standards. Such actions had a far-reaching impact throughout the nation’s school systems, as more districts continue to follow their lead and adopt comprehensive alternative fuel programs.

“We are excited to support those technologies that help to provide our students and our community with a healthy environment,” Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines has said. “Alternative fueled buses improve air quality, reduce global warming gas emissions and are investments that safeguard our students from breathing toxic diesel exhaust.”

The district has developed a strong partnership with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, helping guide emission reduction programs in Southern California while actively pursuing funding to decommission outdated diesel-fueled buses.

Oklahoma Speaker of the House Chris Benge has received a 2010 National NGV Achievement Award for his leadership in advancing natural gas vehicle development in his state. Oklahoma is the second largest producer of natural gas in this country, and the speaker has been a tireless advocate of using both the country’s and the state’s resources for transportation.

In May, the Governor of Oklahoma signed into law the Oklahoma Energy Security Act, which has been introduced by Speaker Benge earlier in the year and passed by both the House and the Senate that month. The legislation seeks to reduce the dependence of Oklahoma and the United States on foreign oil and to improve the economic well-being of the citizens by increasing the use of domestic energy.

The law works to increase the number of compressed natural gas fueling stations in the state by setting a goal of having one public CNG fueling station located every 100 miles along the entire interstate highway system by the year 2015 and every 50 miles by 2025 to encourage the use of CNG fueled vehicles.

Under the legislation, the State of Oklahoma Department of Central Services through the Fleet Management Division will be able to take steps to meet the goal set forth by cooperating with or entering into partnership agreements with private entities to construct the necessary CNG fueling stations for use by the public, state agencies and political subdivisions of the state.

The Speaker also authored two other pieces of legislation, including House Bill 1949, which put in place CNG tax incentives that work to prompt private sector investment. This legislation is considered some of the most progressive CNG incentives in the nation.

These trucks account for 50 percent of Republic‘s West Region truck purchases in 2010 and more than 20 percent of the 2010 replacement truck plan for the entire company.

Mr. Noorlag is credited with implementing one of the most aggressive natural gas vehicle deployments in the U.S. solid waste industry, and the company intends to continue that commitment into 2011 and beyond.

Mr. Noorlag began his career in the solid waste industry more than 35 years ago and moved up the ranks quickly because of his ability to provide creative solutions to everyday challenges. As communities across the country began requesting cleaner, quieter solid waste collection trucks, Joseph Noorlag became convinced that natural gas tuck provide a clean, quiet and very cost effective way to operate a solid waste collection fleet.

Each truck will use about 9,100 diesel gallon equivalents of natural gas per year, displacing more than two million gallons of diesel fuel annually.

To support its fleet, Republic is building four CNG fueling stations in 2010, with another five stations planned for 1011. The stations will be built using the most environmentally friendly building procedures.

Mr. Gulmi received the 2010 National NGV Achievement Award for his commitment to expanding the market for natural gas vehicles throughout the Northeast. Mr. Gulmi serves as Manager, Product Management-Transportation, for National Grid.

He was honored for his long time commitment to advancing both the infrastructure and the number of vehicles in the U.S. operating on clean, domestic natural gas. At National Grid, Mr. Gulmi has had a variety of positions in Fleet Services, Gas Engineering and Business Development/Sales where his leadership, dedication, enthusiasm and motivation to advance natural gas vehicle programs were put to good use. Mr. Gulmi has been a key part of the NGV Market and Business Strategy development at National Grid for the past several years.

He has been involved at leadership levels in the Clean Cities Coalitions in the National Grid territory including the Clean Communities of Central New York, the NYC/Lower Hudson Valley Clean Communities, the Ocean State Clean Cities Coalition, the Greater Long Island Clean Cities Coalition, the Massachusetts Clean Cities Coalition and the Granite State Clean Communities. He also serves as the Chairman of the Northeast Gas Association’s NGV Working group.

He has also been involved in guiding Research Development and Deployment projects such as the recent hydraulic hybrid CNG trash truck project, and he has worked closely with several key accounts, including the NYC Sanitation Department, Nassau County, Manhattan Beer Distributors, and the Long Beach Public Schools to name a few, several of which were previous winners of the National NGV Achievement Awards.

The use of these natural gas vehicles has displaced millions of gallons of petroleum per year, which is a key measure of a successful Clean Cities program.

Mr. Gulmi continues to develop projects to expand the market for natural gas vehicles, and he also continues to focus on education/outreach, showing municipalities, private fleets and educators how they can lower emissions, improve air quality, improve national energy security and lower operating costs.

Most recently he worked with the Clean Communities of Central New York and the Greater Long Island Clean Cities Coalition in helping the coalitions receive federal economic stimulus funds for clean vehicle and infrastructure projects.