As local companies and municipalities search for newer ways to cut costs – and maybe even help the environment a little in the process – one technology that seems to be coming up more and more is the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Just three months after the City of Long Beach unveiled a new terminal for city vehicles, local waste disposal company Consolidated Disposal Service took the wraps off its new LNG facility in North Long Beach.
Consolidated Disposal Service handles waste disposal for many businesses in Long Beach that aren’t served by the City. Currently, 38 of their 185 garbage trucks are LNG-equipped, with the hope that their entire fleet will be converted in five years. Many of the garbage trucks currently in use by CDS and other companies are older models that pollute more heavily than newer models, but CDS replaces them with trucks that are LNG-equipped.
According to a recent press release:
The new station, located at Consolidated’s North Long Beach transfer station in the 2400 block of 68th Street, features one 20,000-gallon tank and two LNG dispensers.
CDS estimates that LNG trucks cut greenhouse gas emissions by 23-30%.
“The fact that it’s here in our own yard makes it very convenient,” said CDS spokesman Noel Hacegaba. “Otherwise, if we wanted to convert to a cleaner fuel vehicle we would have to drive somewhere else.”
Hacegaba also explained that CDS expects to eventually open the LNG to the public, in case other companies or municipalities interested in converting to LNG would like to use their facility.