Southwest Gas Partners with the City of Phoenix to Reduce Carbon Emissions
PHOENIX – Southwest Gas is partnering with the city of Phoenix Public Works Department to reduce emissions by providing natural gas that is converted into compressed natural gas (CNG) to fuel trucks in their new refuse fleet. The program is part of a $1 million in Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded to the city of Phoenix to purchase the fleet vehicles that will be fueled by natural gas. In 2018, Southwest Gas began reducing emissions of large fleet customers by delivering a total of 14.9 million therms of CNG, the equivalent of displacing 11 million gallons of diesel fuel or removing 5,500 vehicles off the roads.
“Vehicles are the number one producer of emissions in our City. These emissions degrade the Valley’s air quality and negatively impact our residents,” said Phoenix mayor, Kate Gallego. “Phoenix is working with multiple sustainability partners to mitigate the harmful effects of vehicle emissions by expanding our public transit options and investing in alternative-fuel vehicles for city services.”
“We are proud to be working in close partnership with the city of Phoenix to do our part in reducing greenhouse gases, while providing a safe, reliable and cleaner fueling experience for the City,” stressed Jose Esparza, Southwest Gas senior vice president of Information Services and Customer Engagement. “We are working with a number of public and private entities to consider compressed natural gas as a clean, affordable option to meet our transportation needs.”
CNG is a domestic, more affordable and available alternative to gasoline that’s made by compressing natural gas to less than 1percent of its volume at standard atmospheric pressure. CNG costs about 50 percent less than gasoline or diesel, emits up to 90 percent fewer emissions than gasoline. In this form, natural gas can be used across a wide range of transportation options, from fleets and light-duty vehicles to heavy-duty trucking. The increased use of natural gas has reduced carbon emissions nationwide to a 25-year low. http://www.cngnow.com/what-is-cng/Pages/default.aspx.
Southwest Gas Corporation provides natural gas service to more than 2 million customers in Arizona, California and Nevada. For more information about Southwest Gas, please visit www.swgas.com.
