Heavy Duty Trucking, September 2018

HDT SEPTEMBER 2018 60 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM green the federal greenhouse gas fuel economy rules may also play a role in increasing the number of natural gas trucks The Phase 2 rule that kicks in soon sets carbon dioxide limits for model year 2021 to 2027 trucks and tractors and MY 2018 to 2027 trailers as entire vehicles It also includes provisions specifically for natural gas vehicles and engines to reduce methane emissions from the crankcase The GHG emissions of natural gas vehicles are about 20 lower overall than those of heavy duty diesel vehicles according to the California NGV Coalition Thats entirely thanks to their engines including two new ones available from Cummins Westport that are being hailed by some as NGV game changers The first of these is the 89L ISL G Near Zero NZ which is the first certified by both the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board as meeting the 002 g bhp hr optional Near Zero NOx emissions standards for medium duty applications The second is the heavy duty ISX12N which came in as the lowest of all engines certified as generating Ultra Low NOx emissions at a level thats 90 lower than current EPA standards The 12L engine is available with ratings from 320 to 400 hp and up to 1450 lb ft of peak torque making it suitable for regional haul refuse and and LNG stations in 43 states according to Chad Lindholm vice president of national accounts He says in recent years Clean Energy has expanded our network exponentially to serve over the road trucks at or close to existing truckstops by offering a diesel like fueling service The idea is to support overthe road regional haulers He says convenient roadside fueling coupled with Cummins Westport continuing to enhance their product not only by reducing NOx but by increasing longevity and performance means that natural gas can be seen as a long standing solution for fleets Clean Energy just rolled out its Zero Now Financing program which Lindholm says makes the cost of leasing or purchasing a new natural gas heavy duty truck equipped with the cleanest engine in the world equal to the price or even lower than that of the same truck equipped with a diesel engine Fleets that finance trucks through the Zero Now program will also be able to purchase natural gas fuel at a fixed price significantly discounted to diesel for the term of the financing lease through a hedging program Lindholm notes that the dual program lets fleets work closely with shippers on a green truck program in a business like manner to set rates etc Shippers want that he adds as many are looking for ways to be environmentally responsible and to operate sustainably Rules at work Fuel spend fueling availability and even the purchase payback equation are not the major force driving this market On top of all the fleets already running on mostly CNG to be legally or otherwise certified as being Scott Barraclough Mack Trucks technology product manager says the market for heavy duty CNG trucks is similar to past years Fleets that have committed to the fuel continue to purchase vehicles for their natural gas fleets With diesel fuel hovering close to the 3 gallon level which is low were currently not seeing as many converts to natural gas Bob Carrick Daimler Trucks North Americas vocational sales manager natural gas puts it this way Its not rocket science Diesel prices are what drove growth in natural gas trucks In hindsight who could have forecast that price drop off Now that were seeing diesel prices inch back up the phone calls about natural gas are inching up too He says another drag on the natural gas market continues to be vehicle resale Trade values for these trucks have never really been defined Weve seen values half that of a similar diesel truck A secondary market for natural gas has not shown up yet but I believe it will Fueling demand Macks Barraclough contends that growth in natural gas fueling infrastructure has slowed as the rate of population growth of natural gas powered trucks has slowed It will probably take a spike in the price of diesel fuel before growth begins to pick up again Daimlers Carrick on the other hand says hes very pleased that efforts to increase fueling infrastructure have not slowed down Existing and new fueling network entrants are putting in robust high performance stations that are suitable for fueling trucks One major player in that arena Clean Energy Fuels alone operates more than 500 CNG In a bid to make natural gas even more environmentally friendly some companies are producing renewable natural gas RNG is essentially biogas the gaseous product of the decomposition of organic matter which has been processed to purity standards Like conventional natural gas RNG can be used as a transportation fuel in the form of compressed natural gas CNG or liquefied natural gas LNG For instance six trucking firms operating in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are deploying trucks powered by Cummins Westport near zero ISX12N engines that are fueled with Clean Energy Fuels Redeem brand renewable natural gas And Waste Management is turning methane from its landfills into RNG that goes into the natural gas pipeline and helps fuel its own large fleet of CNG refuse trucks MAKING NG GREENER NATURAL GAS PHOTO MACK TRUCKS Natural gas first made its presence known in Class 8 trucking with refuse haulers and other centrally fueled vocational fleets that needed to be environmentally compliant to operate legally in non attainment areas A L T E R N A T I V E F U E L S