Where is the FirmGreen Machine?
We’re taking the FirmGreen Machine across the U.S. from Central Ohio to Newport Beach, California. Steve Johnson – our shuttle driver, will be posting updates along the way!
In Newport Beach, the FirmGreen Machine will be put to work at the 2010 Toshiba Classic – Orange County’s only PGA sanctioned golf tournament. Our CNG powered shuttle will transport golf fans between parking areas and the course – while keeping the air clean. The Toshiba Classic benefits Hoag Hospital, a local not-for-profit hospital, and other charitable organizations in the community. Visit www.toshibaclassic.com for more information about the tournament.
Check out Google Maps as we chart the trip
Feb. 22, 2010 – Day One: Our planned departure being delayed by the installation of trailer wiring, we fueled up and departed the FirmGreen Green Energy Center at 1800 hours. The FirmGreen Machine roared to life as all eight cylinders aspirated the cleanest commercially available fuel in the world: FGE’s biomethane or “gCNG” produced at the Franklin County Landfill in Grove City, Ohio. Just as our forefathers set forth westward across this great nation in search of manifest destiny, we too ventured towards the “New Frontier”; the “Green Energy Frontier”.
Our first refueling destination was Kyler Brothers Services located at 4355 Lafayette Boulevard in Indianapolis, Indiana. A steady drizzle accompanied us west bound on I-70 all the way to Indy, but with temperatures above freezing the road conditions were fair. I had called Tom Kyler a few days before our departure. Tom was still melancholy over the stunning upset by the Saints over the Colts in the Superbowl, but tried his best to be pleasant on the phone as he informed me that their station was available for public use 24 hours a day seven days a week.
We discovered that acess to the Kyler Brothers station was easy, right off of I-65 just north of downtown Indy. At 2145 hours we pulled into a well lit fueling island at the Kyler Brothers Station. This is an unmanned station but the posted fueling instructions made our refueling stop a breeze. We had gone 187.4 miles from our home base in Grove City and had taken on 20.39 GGE’s of CNG. The pump price was $1.59/gge and the total cost of the fill up was $32.43. After stretching our legs and taking a moment to reflect on what lay ahead we mounted up and headed West towards St. Louis.
Feb. 23, 2010 – Day Two of our journey across America started early in Cloverdale, Indiana. The roads were slightly slippery but an East rising sun made quick work of the night’s frozen dew. We proceeded west on I-70 and crossed into Illinois mid morning. By 1100 hours we pulled off in Vandalia, Illinois for a heart smart breakfast of sausage gravy and biscuits at the Chuck Wagon and were soon back on the road headed towards St. Louis.
By late afternoon the St. Louis Arch, gateway to the West, was in full view. We had jumped off of I-70 onto I-55 heading towards I-44. As you proceed towards downtown St. Louis on I-55 the specter of the Mississippi River comes suddenly, without forewarning. Looking down at the murky water, it’s measured cadence strolling towards New Orleans and the Gulf, a more genteel time comes to mind. The Mississippi, while separating us geographically, somehow binds our nation together like the seam running up the back of your Levi jacket.
Soon after crossing the Mississippi we were at the Laclede Gas Company for a fueling stop. Laclede Gas Company is the public gas utility in the St. Louis area. Laclede operates a dispensing station for CNG and they were very accommodating in refueling our shuttle. After leaving Laclede we were back on I-44 westbound heading towards Tulsa, Oklahoma. We were soon climbing into the Ozarks as the sun began to set. We crossed over into Oklahoma under full cover of night and proceeded across Cherokee nation in search of Tulsa and a moderately priced hotel room.
Feb. 24, 2010 – Day Three We arrived around 1000 hours at Tulsa Gas Technologies where we were greeted by the President, a friendly and enthusiastic, Tom Sewell. Tom gave the the full tour of the Tulsa Gas Technologies (TGT) manufacturing facilities. TGT fabricates and manufactures a line of top quality CNG dispensers for end users and other distributors and assemblers. Tom was quick to point out that TGT fabricates all of the dispenser components in house, as well as, producing their own circuit boards and process controls. Additionally, TGT provides and installs conversion systems for NGV cars and trucks. We were highly impressed with the quality of the work that we were able to view in progress. Tom has a hands on management style and takes great pride in the quality of workmanship that his shop produces. This attitudes was evident in each of the TGT employees that we had the pleasure of meeting.
After our tour we discovered that the trailer wiring we had installed in Ohio was not going to work with the DyneTek/TGT CNG trailer we had come to pick up from Tulsa Gas. Tom graciously offered to have his staff correct the problem for us. TGT staff went to work on our wiring problem. This rewiring turned into a bigger job than any of us expected but the TGT staff stayed with it and by 1700 hours we were hooking up to the CNG trailer and topping off our fuel tanks. All day long Tom and his staff were exceedingly accommodating to us and even provided us with a courtesy car so that we could ride into town for lunch. I can’t say enough about the level of hospitality that was extended to us by Tom and his staff. This is a great bunch of folks. After making final preparations, and saying our goodbyes, we were finally back on the road at 1830 hours.
Oklahoma City was just 100 miles to the West and we pulled into the “On Q Express” filling station to top off our fuel tanks. At this point time was not on our side but we managed to make it into El Reno, Oklahoma where we made camp for the night. Tomorrow morning we’ll continue West on I-40 into the Texas Panhandle.
Feb. 25, 2010 – Day Four: The Anadarko Basin, covering much of Western Oklahoma and the upper Texas Panhandle, was formed roughly 300 million years ago with the uplift of the Wichita Mountains and is among the most prolific natural gas plays in the continental United States. Departing El Reno, we proceeded West into the heart of the basin. Elk City, Oklahoma lies within several miles of the Texas border and we arrived at the CNG refueling station there at around 1000 hours. This was to be our last source of available CNG until reaching Albuquerque, New Mexico, a distance of 600 miles. We would have to rely on our pioneering spirit, and the DyneTek/TGT trailer, to make it into Albuquerque.
At Elk City we able to take on only 3000 psi of CNG and, after fueling stopped into the Elk City Cafe for a late breakfast. While dining we talked with Chic Davis. Mr. Davis is a fourth generation rancher in the Elk City area and a collector of cowboy and western artifacts. In his shop, next door to the cafe, we marveled at his collection of vintage single action Colt revolvers, Henry Rifles, and authentic Native America artifacts. Chic also has some of the finest hand stitched horse hair bridles ever to come out of Montana State prison.
Continuing west across the Panhandle we made a pit stop in Amarillo to take on fuel from the DyneTek/TGT trailer and to refuel ourselves on some Texas size steaks. By nightfall we were entering into New Mexico and climbing in elevation towards Albuquerque.
Check out Google Maps as we chart the trip
Feb. 26, 2010 – Day Five: General Francisco de Coronado and the first Spanish explorers, arrived in the Albuquerque area sometime around 1540; we had arrived around 2100 hours the previous evening. Heading out of Albuquerque on Friday morning,
our first order of business was to refuel at the Clean Energy CNG station located at the Albuquerque airport.
We had gone 600 miles since our last fuel stop in Elk City, Oklahoma. The Clean Energy station is an unmanned operation and after swiping our credit card we fueled up our shuttle and the DyneTek/TGT trailer with 3600psi CNG. Departing the Albuquerque airport we continued west on I-40 heading into the San Mateo Mountains.
The shuttle performed well in the mountains, climbing to elevations as high as 7,000 feet, and by 1500 hours we were crossing the border into Arizona. Arizona gave our ship no quarter as we climbed a succession of ranges including the Buck Mountains, Black Mountains and the Hualapai Mountains. We made our way into Kingman Arizona around 2100 hours and decided to call it a day as the California border lay just 40 miles to the west.
Check out Google Maps as we chart the trip
Feb. 27, 2010 – Day Six: We were back on the trail early Saturday morning and crossing into California by 0900 hours. Dropping down out of the Sacramento Mountains we eased our way into the Mojave. With an annual average rainfall of just 10 inches the Mojave supports roughly 2,000 different plant species most notable of which may be Yucca Brevifolia, or the Joshua tree.
In order to gain some perspective, at Essex we dropped south off of I-40 onto the legendary and storied route 66 and continued through the Mojave towards Ludlow, California. The raw, stark beauty of the Mojave is all but stunning; the ancient rhythms of the Earth are evident there.
At Ludlow we stopped for some coffee and pie and admired the 1951 Chevy panel truck rusting silently behind the Ludlow Café. From San Bernardino to the coast we fought a deluge of rain and the notorious southern California traffic. By 1800 hours, through a rain streaked and dirty windshield we caught our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean off Newport Beach.
March 1, 2010 – Epilogue: The “road trip” is quintessentially American; a remnant of our heritage of manifest destiny and the open range. Central to these values is the notion that the freedom to travel, the freedom to congregate or the freedom to be alone with your thoughts, or demons, is inalienable. Does our commitment to a renewable and sustainable and secure energy future require from us a repudiation of these values? As we rolled towards the Pacific it became evident that this question should be, and will be, answered in the negative.
Our journey is finished for now: visit Google Maps to see our route across the USA
1 Comment for Where is the FirmGreen Machine?
Author comment by hpopplewell | March 2, 2010 at 8:05 am
Very welcome surprise: my friend and partner, Steve Johnson, is actually a professional writer! WOW! Very nice work on the Blog!
– Hal