The city of Grand Junction is taking efficiency seriously.
Grand Junction natural gas project for city vehicles
In an unprecedented move on behalf of the city of Grand Junction, the fleet vehicles, such as city busses and government vehicles, will soon be filled with compressed natural gas rather than diesel fuel, which will save the city nearly $100,000 each year.
This is a HUGE deal for the city, as well as the automotive industry in general, and at Western Slope Auto, we’re excited to be part of this great city that is moving forward with attempts to become more environmentally conscious and fuel efficient. Should this Grand Junction natural gas project for city vehicles be successfully implemented, we would bet that vehicle manufacturers will begin taking the use of compressed natural gas a bit more seriously.
Currently, city-owned vehicles are filled with diesel fuel, which equals out to about $3.30 a gallon, but with the switch to compressed natural gas, the price would drop to about $1.50 a gallon.
To help with the switch, the city of Grand Junction received a $500,000 grant because the project is expected to end up costing around $2.8 million.
The city is expected to save millions of dollars switching to CNG.
In order to get enough compressed natural gas, methane gas that is generated at the Persigo Wastewater Treatment Plant will be collected, cleaned and compressed to create compressed natural gas. That gas will then be funneled through a 5.8-mile long pipeline to the city shops facility.
Grand Junction residents can expect to see this project completed by April of next year (2015), and we have to say, we are pretty excited to see how this turns out and how this project and big change could affect future drivers and vehicles! Grand Junction is the first city in Colorado to try a project of this kind and magnitude, but there are a few other cities around the nation that have switched to using compressed natural gas, and we would bet this will be the next major move made by many Colorado cities to come.