Californian Concrete Supplier Grows Biomethane-Fueled Fleet to 117 Trucks
(California Natural Gas Vehicle Partnership/NGV Journal) National Ready Mixed Concrete Company (NRMCC), a member of the California Natural Gas Vehicle Partnership (CNGVP), has deployed another 24 near-zero emission CNG concrete mixers from Peterbilt, expanding its Southern California NGV fleet to 117 trucks. This fleet is fueled with 100% carbon-negative renewable natural gas produced in California, enabling the company to go beyond carbon neutrality and make a beneficial impact on climate protection and regional air quality.
NRMCC, part of the Vicat Group of Companies, is a large, privately owned concrete supplier that operates 11 plants in Los Angeles, Orange County and Ventura County. To help fulfill a company-wide commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of its operations, NRMCC began converting its heavy-duty fleet of mixers and haulers to near-zero CNG trucks in June 2020. These NGVs travel throughout Southern and Central California, relying on Cummins Westport’s natural gas engines for the power and range needed to transport weighty payloads.
“In the past year alone, NRMCC has driven nearly 5 million miles with our CNG fleet fueled by renewable natural gas,” said Steve Lode, President of National. “There is no other low- or zero-emission technology available today that could enable a heavy-duty fleet like ours—running routes from Southern to Central California pulling heavy loads of cement—to offset the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions that we’ve achieved.”
Annually, NRMCC’s fleet will consume more than 1.2 million DGE of biomethane, fueled in part at its private natural gas station built at its Vernon plant. The fuel, sourced from dairy digesters, has a carbon intensity score of negative 200, enabling the company to reduce its CO2 emissions by more than 42,000 metric tons each year—the GHG equivalent of removing 9,100 passenger cars from the road each year. Three additional private stations are scheduled to be installed by the end of 2021 at its Irwindale, Glendale and Santa Clarita locations which will consume dairy biomethane as well.
“NRMCC presents another example of how renewable natural gas fueled near zero emission trucks can deliver crucial GHG, CO2, and criteria pollutant emission reductions today,” commented Tom Swenson, vice-chair of the CNGVP and business development manager for Cummins Inc. “Real and immediate environmental impacts can be made when companies such as NRMCC commit to investing in clean fuel and technology options.”
In 2020, data from the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program revealed that the average annual carbon intensity of CNG from renewable feedstocks (bio-CNG) was –6.82 gCO2e/MJ, the lowest average of any currently available vehicle fuel—including renewable electricity. This means that California fleet vehicles fueled by biomethane are helping to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and ultimately reduce the climate impact of the transportation sector. READ MORE
