(NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.) — Clean Energy Fuels Corp. participated in a little history last month when it supported General Dynamics NASSCO’s launch of the Isla Bella containership, the first of its kind to operate on liquefied natural gas. Clean Energy provided bunkering services and fuel from its Boron, Calif., liquefaction plant for the NASSCO-built cargo ship, which was delivered to TOTE Maritime in San Diego. Clean Energy will also be providing bunkering services next month to the second NASSCO-built ship, Perla Del Caribe.
“As the maritime industry begins its transition to LNG, Clean Energy is able to bring our many years of fueling services to ensure an easy and seamless transition,” said Andrew J. Littlefair, president and CEO of Clean Energy. “We applaud NASSCO and TOTE as world leaders in the introduction of the clean fuel to the commercial shipping industry. The use of natural gas is continuing to expand across the various transportation sectors and is the best choice economically and environmentally.”
By using natural gas, these TOTE vessels will be the cleanest cargo-carrying ships in the world and equivalent to removing 15,700 vehicles from the road.
Clean Energy signed additional agreements across transportation market segments of transit, refuse and trucking and is on track to complete 68 station projects before the end of the calendar year. These include new CNG and LNG stations as well as expansion and upgrades of existing stations. This is a comparable number to previous years when oil prices were significantly higher demonstrating the viability of natural gas as a competitive fuel in all market environments due to its price stability and cleaner profile.
