Join SWANA and our members on January 13, 2010, at 1:45-3:00 PM Eastern time (10:45 AM-noon Pacific time) to discuss SWACO and FirmGreen’s Green Energy Center landfill gas to CNG vehicle fuel project.

Steve Wilburn, CEO of FirmGreen, Inc. and Albert Iosue, Assistant Director of Planning and Projects for SWACO will be on hand to discuss essential technical and economic elements of a landfill gas to vehicle fuel project that a municipal solid waste manager needs to know before embarking upon such a project.

Session attendees will learn how to calculate the potential value they could realize by using this fuel source to displace their own purchases instead of selling energy to other users, as well as the technical requirements to upgrade landfill gas to vehicle grade fuel.

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Q. How did you get started in the business of CNG for transportation?

A. We already have CNG stations in Europe and we decided to investigate the United States market. We quickly realized that the U.S. needed to become less dependent on foreign oil and reduce pollution in the transportation sector.

Q. When & why did you get involved in the vehicle side of CNG?

A. We built our first CNG Fast fill fueling station in 2007 in Asheville, NC and discovered that lack of certified conversion systems for vehicles was a significant hindrance to expanding the use of CNG as a vehicle fuel. TransEco President Alex Kovalchuk said: “In Asheville, the projection is to have about seven CNG stations within the next 5 years,” he reports. But those stations would be useless without CNG-powered vehicles, he notes, “So that’s why we decided to do the whole package: conversions, inspections, fuel, and servicing.” This is when we started a new division for CNG vehicle conversions called Altech-Eco in Oct 2006.

Q. Can you tell us a little about the different focus of Altech-Eco, TransEco, & NC-CNG and/or or how the companies work together?

A. Altech-Eco is a SVM registered with the EPA and the main objective is to obtain EPA and CARB approved conversion systems for vehicular use. NC-CNG is the CNG station operations division. TransEco Energy is our corporate office that handles administrative duties.

Q. Tell us about the typical process of getting a vehicle converted.

A. It can take around 3-6 months to get a vehicle certified and is a very expensive investment. Once conversion system is certified the conversion process takes approximately 6-8 hours.

Q. What limitations should I expect in terms of the type of vehicle that could be converted?

A. “We have the technology to convert just about any vehicle on the road today, but legally we are only allowed to convert vehicles which conversion system have been approved by EPA or CARB,” says company Vice President Miles George.  “Vehicles can be converted to run exclusively on CNG or converted with the ability to switch back and forth between CNG and another type of fuel.”

Q. How does the current market situation help or hinder the expansion of CNG as a transportation fuel?

A. The timing is perfect for CNG to become more prominent as a transportation fuel. As demand increases the OEM vehicle manufacturer will start to offer CNG vehicles, but this will take some time. I think we need some help from the government to jumpstart the movement. If the NAT GAS ACT gets passed this should help. Please contact your House Members and ask them to cosponsor this legislation.

Q. Do you see a major difference in the global and domestic outlook for natural gas fueled transportation?

A. Outside the U.S. CNG has become very prominent. We are behind other countries as far as CNG infrastructure goes. Because of the this shortage of CNG stations in most areas we focus mostly on large commercial fleets and Government agencies that already have CNG stations.

Q. What legislation/policy changes does the company believe could be most beneficial to expansion of natural gas for transportation here in the U.S.?

A. NAT GAS ACT. Please contact your House Members and ask them to cosponsor this legislation.

gCNG blog note: the NAT GAS ACT legislation is HR 1835. Go to http://thomas.loc.gov and type HR1835 in the bill summary and status box to find out if your representative is a cosponsor of the bill. Phone or fax is the best way to reach your House Member due to security screening of mail; contact information for your Representative can be found at http://www.house.gov