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Friday, 09 December 2005 08:55 |
| Asheville Fleet Manager Chris Dobbins (center) fills up a Honda Civic GX with compressed natural gas at the opening ceremony last Wednesday.
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By DAVID FORBES
With the opening of Asheville??s first compressed natural gas station last Wednesday, residents may soon be breathing cleaner air. The station will be used for city, county, state and hospital vehicles and opens to public users, mostly businesses, in January.
Construction of the station was financed through a state grant, jointly requested by the city, Buncombe County and Mission Hospitals.
City officials stated in remarks at the opening ceremony that they believe the fueling station will help the region to progress toward cleaner air and fuel.
?®I think it??s pretty clear that when you look at Asheville and the things that make Asheville important to us ?? our tourism economy, our own sense of well being ?? that we want to have good, clean air in and around Asheville,?∆ outgoing Mayor Charles Worley said. ?®Gas and diesel fuel produce carbon monoxide and aggravate respiratory health. Natural gas vehicles reduce pollutants by 80 to 90 percent. That??s pretty significant.
?®It costs about what gas does today. There??s no good reason not to use
CNG energy. It??s also produced domestically, so it eases our dependence
on foreign sources of energy.?∆
Worley also noted that with construction of this station, it is now possible for CNG vehicles to drive across the state.
?®This forms what is literally a link across North Carolina,?∆ Worley
said. ?®It fits with what Asheville is all about and it fits with our
long-term desire to clean up the air around us.?∆
There are already CNG stations in Hickory, Winston-Salem, Greensboro,
Charlotte, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Garner, Lexington and Gastonia.
Agreeing with Worley, Mayor-elect Terry Bellamy noted in her remarks
that the fueling station constitutes a step in the right direction
toward cleaner fuels.
?®We all know that one day we will not be able to heavily rely upon
fossil fuels,?∆ Bellamy said. ?®The usage of fossil fuels has given a
negative impact on the air that we breathe, as well as on the health of
our most vulnerable citizens. We can no longer ignore what tomorrow
holds for our community. Hurricane Katrina??s effects and the ensuing
fuel crisis have made us all keenly aware how vulnerable our energy
supplies are. This station is a pioneer for the future. We can honestly
say that whatever the fuel sources are for the future, be it natural
gas, hydrogen or another cutting-edge source, there is a strong
possibility it will need to be highly compressed for usage. This will
provide us with a hands-on opportunity to work with tomorrow??s
technology.?∆
The city has purchased five CNG vehicles, which will begin service in
January, while the county has one and Mission Hospitals and the local
division of the state Department of Air Quality are planning to buy
more, bringing the total up to around a dozen, Mark Combs, the city??s
public works director, told the Daily Planet.
?®This really is a new frontier, a new ground,?∆ Combs said. ?®The United
States has a lot of natural gas, but we??re way behind the rest of the
world in utilizing CNG as a fuel source. South America and Europe have
a lot of CNG.?∆
Moreover, Combs told the Daily Planet that this station is only the
beginning of the city??s push towards alternative fuels ?? and that
replacing more and more of the city??s gasoline-powered vehicles with
CNG-powered ones is also a long-term goal.
?®Where we can integrate CNG-powered vehicles, we will,?∆ Combs said.
?®What we would like to do is start out with smaller vehicles, like
administrative vehicles and pick up trucks, and work our vehicle weight
up as we get more expertise. That??s one reason we??re very excited. We
can all learn how to use high-pressure (fuel systems) here. This is
more than public access, it??s about a learning curve.?∆
County Commissioner Carol Peterson, speaking for the county government
at the meeting, said that encouraging more use of CNG vehicles will
help to keep the area beautiful.
?®This is what we??re all about in Asheville and Buncombe County ?? that??s
preserving the beauty of this place,?∆ Peterson said. ?®That means
preserving it for our children and our grandchildren so they can know
what we enjoy about Buncombe County and the city.?∆
Furthermore, Peterson noted, the county intends to have 20 percent of
its vehicles on alternative fuels within the next 10 years.
In separate remarks, Sonya Greck, vice president of Mission Hospitals,
said that the health implications of switching to a cleaner fuel source
such as CNG are ?®phenomenal.?∆
?®We look forward to switching more of our vehicles to CNG very soon,?∆ Greck said.
The grant from the state came from the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources. Keith
Bambergher, director of the DENR??s division of air quality, spoke for
the department at the ceremony, noting that DENR had recognized the
efforts by Asheville and the county to bring more clean fuel sources to
the area.
?®DENR recognized the proactive and positive efforts put forth by the
partners in this and rewarded that with a grant,?∆ Bambergher said. ?®We
commend the efforts of everyone involved in this venture. It makes
sense. Compressed natural gas is one of the cheapest forms of mobile
fuel.?∆
When the station opens to the public, a gallon of CNG will cost $2.24, Fleet Manager Chris Dobbins said.
In addition to being a cheaper source of fuel, CNG, also saves costs by
making an area cleaner and the people living there healthier,
Bambergher asserted.
?®Not only does it have a cost savings, but the savings in air quality
are tremendous,?∆ he said. ?®The 2005 Green Vehicle rating ranks the
Honda Civic GX (which is powered by CNG as the cleanest car sold in
America. This will help keep our air quality up and ensure that we can
still see the beckoning mountains and vistas. This is just the
beginning of what will be an ongoing source of cleaner air and cheaper
fuel.?∆
Asheville recently purchased a Civic GX ?? the first vehicle fueled at the opening cremony.
When the station opens to the public in January, public users of CNG
vehicles, mostly businesses, will be able to fuel at the station.
Hart, director of Hart Distributing, which ships organic beer and wine,
told the Daily Planet that the presence of the station in Asheville
will improve the functioning of his business, which uses CNG-powered
vans and trucks for around 80 percent of its fleet, including sales and
delivery vehicles.
?®It has been very difficult,?∆ Hart, who gave that as his only name,
said. ?®It was even more difficult before the station opened in Hickory,
because we??d have to go all the way down to Gastonia and back up. When
we run out of fuel, we call the tow truck. One time I had a woman
driving for us who could see the fill station and she ran out of fuel.
Asheville will make it so we can run all our vehicles up here. It??s
just really wonderful to finally have this fill station here.?∆
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