Veolia ES Solid Waste, Inc., the solid waste division of Veolia Environmental Services North America Corp. (VESNA), has introduced a fleet of compressed natural gas (CNG) powered refuse trucks to its Waunakee, Wisconsin, service area. Veolia has invested in 13 new CNG-powered trucks and a CNG fueling infrastructure that includes 48 fueling bays, allowing for future expansion of the fleet as required to support the community’s needs.
“We are very proud to be the first private sector company to bring CNG technology to the state of Wisconsin,” said Jim Long, president and CEO of Veolia ES Solid Waste, Inc. “Having been based in Milwaukee for many years and with a long history serving customers throughout Wisconsin, this investment is extremely meaningful for us.”
“This fleet of CNG trucks will serve over 25,000 households across the greater Madison area, as well as the single-stream recycling needs of over 5,000 commercial and industrial customers across Dane, Green and Sauk counties,” explained Long.
The new CNG trucks run approximately 15 percent (8-10 decibels) quieter than trucks powered with diesel engines, reducing the noise trucks generate while on route.
The Waunakee fueling infrastructure utilizes time-fill fueling technology that allows drivers to fuel their trucks during overnight hours, minimizing administrative and operational downtime. There is also one “quick-fuel” bay available that fuels trucks in minutes instead of hours.
The site will continue to use diesel-powered collection trucks to collect industrial and commercial waste, but will be replacing those trucks with CNG-powered models over the next two years. The natural gas is being provided to the site by Madison Gas & Electric.
CNG is one of the cleanest and most socially responsible alternative fuels available today, making the benefits of CNG from both an environmental and economic standpoint hard to ignore.
Veolia lists the following benefits arising from a CNG-powered fleet:
- Switching one truck from diesel to CNG is equivalent to:
- Taking 6.8 cars off the road
- Planting 1,606 new trees every year
- Saving 321 barrels of oil per year
- For the Madison area, that calculates to over 20,000 new trees a year.
- CNG uses less chemicals and oils – natural gas is the only available fossil fuel source in the U.S. that meets Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emission requirements through 2015 without the use of complicated chemical after treatments.
- CNG promotes cleaner air:
- 87% less nitrogen oxide emissions compared to diesel
- 80% less carbon emissions
- 23% reduction in greenhouse gases
Over 98 percent of CNG fuel resources are located in North America, which means there is a reduced carbon footprint associated with mining the resources and transporting the fuel to domestic locations as compared to foreign oil and offshore drilling. CNG also produces 29 percent less carbon dioxide than oil and is 90 percent cleaner than diesel in its natural state, thus reducing the trucks’ overall operating impact on the environment.
As of 2012, Veolia operates four CNG fueling stations and over 100 CNG-powered refuse collection and support vehicles in North America. Other CNG fleets are operational in
Fort Myers, FL, Northbrook, IL, and Evansville, IN.
(This article primarily compiled using information from a Veolia ES Solid Waste, Inc. press release)
