By Dan,
posted on Friday, February 10, 2012.
AT&T is buying 1,200 of General Motors'
compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, the Chevrolet Express.
This purchase is another big step toward AT&T's pursuit of
cleaner and more affordable means of doing business. In 2008,
AT&T said it would invest up to $565 million over ten years to
add about 15,000 alternative-fueled vehicles to its corporate
fleet. The company now has 70,300 vehicles in its fleet, 5,000 of
which run on CNG.
AT&T's purchase of clean, CNG vehicles also complements the
company's participation in the U.S. Department of Energy's "Clean
Cities: National Clean Fleets Partnership", launched in 2010 by
President Obama to reduce America's petroleum imports by one-third
by 2025.
Jerome Webber, AT&T's Vice President of Fleet Operations,
said moving to natural gas vehicles helps the company reduce its
carbon footprint saying, "It is also cost-effective and readily
available in our country right now."
Webber also said the 1,200 new CNG vehicles will help save 49
million gallons of gasoline over the 10-year deployment period and
is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons.
According to a 2009 Center for Automotive Research, that is the
greenhouse gas equivalent of removing 38,600 passenger vehicles
from the road for one year.
Natural gas vehicles (NGVs) outperform conventional vehicles
with a significantly higher octane rating, better fuel efficiency
and lower operating costs-all while offering dramatic reductions in
emissions.
Using more natural gas for transportation can make a real
difference. Replacing 3.5 million heavy-duty vehicles with NGVs by
2035 would save more than 1.2 million barrels of oil per day-more
than the United States imported from either Venezuela or Saudi
Arabia in 2009.
Natural gas vehicles are driving the future toward an energy
independent America for both consumers and commercial vehicle
operators. And with an abundance of natural gas in America,
the road to a cleaner energy future is wide open.