The city of Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus (BBB) announced July 16, that it has become one of the country’s first municipal transit authorities to convert its fleet to renewable natural gas (RNG). Earlier in 2015, BBB modified its original agreement with Clean Energy Fuels Corp. to transition the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for its fleet to Clean Energy’s Redeem renewable LNG (Redeem), which is non-fracked methane harvested from organic waste in landfills.
With the announcement, BBB unveiled a new bus ad campaign called “Bigger, Bluer, Skies” to emphasize the lower emissions and sustainability of this type of fuel.
Big Blue Bus has been fueling its LNG and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fleet of motor coaches with fuel supplied by Clean Energy since 2012. The process of harvesting and processing Redeem provides a product that has fewer impurities than conventional natural gas and is a cleaner burning fuel source.
“City Council has voiced its support for non-fracked, sustainable sources of fuel, and Redeem delivers a fuel made entirely of waste; a more sustainable product at an equal cost. This makes BBB’s partnership with Clean Energy to use the Redeem fuel a win-win solution,” said BBB’s Transit Director Ed King.
The modification to the original agreement with Clean Energy to furnish and deliver renewable methane gas, as a replacement for traditional Liquid Natural Gas, is cost neutral to the city.
“Big Blue Bus is a leader in sustainability and our ability to partner with it and provide a completely recyclable natural gas fueling option helps reduce emissions locally and shows other cities the power in using Redeem renewable fuel,” said Peter Grace, Clean Energy’s senior vice president for sales and finance.
