Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Maintenance superintendent Steve Regan prepares to pump compressed natural gas from the town's new CNG station.

Clean air, convenience fuel the town's new CNG station

By Nathan R. Huff

The difference between gasoline and compressed natural gas is a lot like the difference between fast food and fine dining: The less expensive, more convenient option provides an adequate source of fuel, but it is an unhealthy long-term solution.

Gasoline-guzzling automobiles produce close to half of all air quality problems in the Bay Area. With this in mind, Los Gatos officials on Oct. 26 proudly unveiled the new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station at the town's service center.

Town staff and Council members Randy Attaway and Joe Pirzynski joined representatives from the Bay Area Air Quality District and the Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority to dedicate the new fueling station, which will be used by the town's three natural-gas-powered vehicles.

"It's a great program," said Scott Baker, director of Parks and Public Works. "In addition to the environmental advantages and lower fuel cost, there are a significant number of other benefits."

Baker said that because CNG is cleaner burning--emission levels for CNG-powered cars are 50 percent to 80 percent lower than their gasoline-driven counterparts--exhaust systems, motor oil and other engine parts last longer.

The 90-gallon tank and fueling station were funded through a $225,000 grant from the Transportation Fund for Clean Air (TFCA), part of the air-quality district. The town now has two CNG-powered vehicles and one bi-fuel truck, purchased in 1994 with a $67,000 TFCA grant. Two of the vehicles are used by parks personnel, and the other by public works.

The town has also received $28,000 from TFCA to subsidize the purchase of six more natural-gas-powered vehicles. Baker said five of the new cars will replace the aging building inspection fleet, and the sixth will be a police van.

These TFCA grants come from DMV fees channeled back to the counties in which they are collected. A county organization provides program administration and grant coordination--in the case of Santa Clara, that's the transit authority.

The transit authority uses the money in various ways, including purchasing CNG and electric vehicles for each city. Marcella Rensi, transportation planner for the transit authority, said Los Gatos applied for the fuel station grant several years ago. At that time, the town's CNG vehicles had to drive to Cupertino or Saratoga to refuel.

As David Burch, senior environmental planner for the air-quality district explained, making the switch to alternative fuels is a "chicken and egg" situation.

"You need vehicles, which are relatively inexpensive, but you also need a place to fuel them up, which is more expensive," Burch said. "Now that we have the facility in place, we can move in concert." District grants have led to the purchase of more than 1,000 CNG-powered municipal work and transit vehicles in the Bay Area.

Baker said the town would be "looking closely at CNG vehicles" before making all future transportation purchases. The limited number of natural-gas fueling stations may prevent the town from buying only CNG-powered autos, but Baker said improvements in CNG-related technology and the option of bi-fuel vehicles will allow the town to avoid relying on dirtier, gasoline-driven vehicles in the future.

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