LCF Goes to Shreveport
Posted by Victoria on Sep. 3, 2019 / Electric Vehicles, CNG, Clean Fuels Events - Statewide, LCF Members, Natural Gas / Subscribe 0
Louisiana Clean Fuels staff hit the road this past July, heading to Shreveport for a myriad of events and meetings with topics ranging from EVs to CNG.
LCF Member SporTran kindly offered their offices up as meeting spaces for our events. While in Shreveport, LCF hosted a CNG listening session, a summer board meeting, and an EV Roundtable with LCF member SWEPCO.
EV Roundtable
On Tuesday, July 16, 2019, LCF hosted an EV Roundtable in partnership with LCF Member SWEPCO. The goal of the roundtable discussion was to educate attendees - mostly municipalities, utilities, and business owners - on electric vehicles, charging, market growth, and how they can take part in the EV Revolution. The roundtable also included a discussion of VW Settlement Funding for EV chargers in addition to a sneak preview of LCF’s DC Fast Charging Master Plan.
CNG Listening Session
On Wednesday, July 17, 2019, LCF hosted a CNG listening session for CNG fleets to discuss issues and concerns with their natural gas vehicles. This session was the first of several CNG listening sessions that LCF will host throughout the rest of the year. The sessions are primarily intended for the people who work directly with the CNG vehicles in their fleet as discussions are centered around maintenance and mechanical issues. The goal of these sessions is that Clean Cities coalitions who host them to report back to the Department of Energy (DOE) what issues their local CNG fleets are experiencing so that DOE can work on a more nationwide level to research and help solve these issues.
Board of Directors Summer Meeting
LCF also hosted its summer board meeting on Thursday, July 18. After the board meeting, Dinero Washington, Chief Executive Officer of SporTran and an LCF board member, took the LCF staff on a tour of SporTran’s buses. The staff was able to step aboard one of SporTran’s electric buses charging at its station, and Mr. Washington explained how SporTran handles keeping their transit buses charged. Upon stepping onto the bus, one of our staffers marveled at how quiet the low hum of the bus was. Washington responded, “It’s actually quieter than this. What you’re hearing is the noise from the charger. The bus is quieter when it’s running.”
Our staff and summer interns were also treated to a tour of the natural gas fueling station at SporTran. We watched one of the buses fill up with CNG while Washington explained the fueling and storage process.
About SporTran
In 2018, LCF awarded Spotran with their “Trailblazer” award for operating a 100% alternative fuel transit fleet. SporTran uses only CNG and electric buses in their transit buses, and, as a result, they reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 1,532.9 tons and their petroleum use by 558,122 gasoline-gallon equivalents in 2017 alone. Not only have they done the incredible by switching to 100% alternative fuels – their CEO, Dinero Washington, has also been a leader in helping other fleets to move in the same direction.
See photos from our trip to Shreveport in our 2019 LCF GOES TO SHREVEPORT GALLERY!
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