USA, Brawley, CA

Border Valley Trading, an exporter of compressed hay products in the state of California, has set about replacing its fleet of diesel trucks with units that utilize clean-burning liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel.  With fifteen LNG powered trucks currently in operation, they plan an additional five to ten by second quarter of 2009. The trucks, fuelled under an agreement with Applied LNG Technologies USA, LLC (ALT), will be used to distribute feed products. "Converting our export operations fleet to clean burning LNG was at the top of our list of new initiatives,” said Gregory Braun, President of Border Valley Trading. (Press Release)

Colombia, Bogota

Owners of vehicles fuelled by natural gas (NGVs) are being recognised for their contribution to the environment, being potentially eligible for bonds with which to access discounts or reimbursements for fuel consumed. The structured program is reported to be offered by Gas Natural, and Ecoenergy Optim Consult, with the aim of obtaining carbon credits in the voluntary market. The announcement was made within the framework of the first Forum for Alternative Fuels and Environment, conducted by the magazine Auto & Style and Corferias. The program hopes to directly stimulate about 7,000 conversions to natural gas annually, for the life of the program. Portafolio states about 265,000 vehicles have been converted to NGVs in Colombia.

USA, Greensburg (Indiana)

2009 model qualifies for Californian funding

Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, LLC today dedicated its new auto plant that last month began producing the fuel-efficient CNG, 4-cylinder Honda Civic Sedan. America Honda also announced this week that the 2009 Honda Civic GX has joined the 2007 and 2008 Civic GX on the list of vehicles eligible for a $3,000 rebate under California’s Alternative Fuel Vehicle Incentive Program (also known as Fueling Alternatives).

Germany, Rüsselsheim

Opel's new Zafira 1.6 CNG Turbo will be presented at the Bologna motor show (December 5 to 14, 2008) as the 'world's most powerful natural gas-propelled vehicle'. It has an output of 150 hp and a top speed of 200 km/h but consumes only 5.3 kg of natural gas per 100 km in the MVEG cycle, emitting just 144 g/km of CO2.  That means 60 percent more horsepower for a difference of only 6 grams in emissions than the naturally aspirated model. The new Zafira 1.6 CNG Turbo will reach markets starting in January 2009.

Venezuela, Caracas

European OEMs VW and BMW have both answered the call of the Venezuelan government to provide models capable of operating on natural gas. BMW announced last month that they will release four models next year with OEM endorsed conversions making the vehicles capable of operating on either natural gas or gasoline. Volkswagen meanwhile are releasing a range of bi-fuel vehicles under the VW, Skoda, SEAT and Audi brands. Both manufacturers will use conversion kits supplied by Italian-based BRC.

Sweden, Stockholm

SL, the regional company responsible for bus, tram, subway and railway traffic in and around Stockholm, has announced that, by the end of 2008, it will have 80 buses running on biomethane.  Over the next four years, the company says that number will increase to 500. This fleet expansion will be based on an expansion of the local production capacity for biomethane from various locally available organic waste resources.  An SL analysis of different fuel alternatives shows that biomethane is the most environmental friendly and economically attractive biofuel alternative.  Bioethanol does not offer the same environmental advantages, and there are also some ethical concerns, the SL analysis says.