The most significant barrier to a natural gas refuse fleet conversion is the initial costs of on-site infrastructure. Refuse fleets are familiar with traditional petroleum sources of fuel and typically already have invested in on-site infrastructure to fuel their diesel fleet. When considering a compressed natural gas fleet conversion, a refuse company is forced to make massive capital investments into new trucks and also they must invest into a fueling solution that works for their fleet. Although the cost of compressed natural gas infrastructure has decreased over the years, it has not decreased enough to make it economically viable for a private refuse company to convert their entire fleet. For this reason, the Energy Commission’s investment into this project is vital to continue the growth of compressed natural gas adoption in the refuse industry. As more and more companies convert their fleets to compressed natural gas the market prices will continue to decrease and the economics of conversions will become more feasible. The objectives of this project are to remove the financial barriers to compressed natural gas fleet conversion by funding compressed natural gas infrastructure, increase compressed natural gas use in a California refuse fleet, promote compressed natural gas adoption in the refuse industry, provide a model that other refuse industries can replicate to accommodate fleet conversions to compressed natural gas. The goal of this project is to invest into alternative fuel infrastructure that will support a growing compressed natural gas fleet.
