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San José (California) Airport Gets Funding to Expand CNG Fueling and Conversions
17 February 2008
Mineta San José International Airport (SJC) is obtaining up to $1.3 million in new funding for two projects that will enhance the airport’s publicly accessible compressed natural gas fueling station and provide more incentives to assist owners of taxis and shuttle vans to convert their vehicles to CNG.
Upgrades to the airport’s CNG fueling station, estimated to cost $727,000, will increase its capacity, efficiency, reliability, and accessibility both for the airport’s fleets and the general public. Completion of this project is expected by the end of this year.
In addition, over the next two years SJC’s Alternative Fuel Grant Program will maintain its support for the CNG conversion of up to 55 additional vehicles with larger incentive grants of $4000 per taxi and $8,000 per shuttle van to fleet owners that are permitted to operate at the airport. The program is estimated to cost $555,000, with up to $400,000 coming from vehicle operators.
These steps are assisted with a new grant of $606,000 from Santa Clara Valley Transportation
Authority and Bay Area Air Quality Management District. SJC will match the grant with a funding commitment of $275,000.
Since 2005 SJC has encouraged clean air conversion of taxis by permitting CNG taxis to operate every day at the airport instead of only alternate days that gasoline-fueled taxis are allowed. As a result, the number of CNG taxis working at SJC has already increased from fewer than 30 in mid-2005 to 130 vehicles today, and they now account for more than 40% of all taxi trips from the airport compared to 6% in 2005.
Since 2003, the Airport also has been able to eliminate the use of more 1.3 million gallons of diesel fuel through its conversion of its own shuttle bus fleet to CNG. This has saved more than $3 million in fuel costs and annually reduced vehicle exhaust emissions by more than 70 tons.
The Airport received $700,000 from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in 2002 to replace twenty diesel shuttle buses with CNG-fueled shuttles. It will complete the conversion of the remainder of its fleet this spring with the scheduled replacement of another fourteen diesel shuttles with the help of another BAAQMD grant of $700,000.
February 17, 2008 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
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Posted by: sjc | February 17, 2008 at 03:17 PM
Of the number of different ways one could look at the economics of this project, there are several gains besides he cleaner air.
That the moneys spent or budgeted are less than the fuel cost savings.
That since 2002 the no of vehicles included has increased fourfold so the future savings will be greater esp as liquid fuel costs are increasing.
There are boosts to the manufactures and suppliers installers of these fueling systems, helping to bring economy of scale.
In more general terms, In all of history there have never been the opportunities to set things up for the longer term, although the short medium term is still unsatisfactory in so many ways.
The project describes the long term approach that uses the "fat" to constructively ensure the future.
Rather than the massive oil co (and others) profits going to fatten their shareholders and expand the same unconscionable gouge and feast methods, these bonus can be put to ensuring an awareness and with investments in education the ability to pursue meaningful activity in relation to the future of our environment.
Posted by: Arnold | February 17, 2008 at 05:01 PM
It would be nice if they also put in some "pay for plugs" in their parking area so BEV's could recharge while waiting to pick up passengers.
Posted by: John Taylor | February 18, 2008 at 07:24 AM
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This is good news. Since they have remodeled the airport, there is a parking garage where you can get a taxi. If they are cleaner when they start, idle and take off, it might be a lot healthier for everyone.