Birmingham to Lease Natural Gas-Fueled Trash Trucks
On Monday, Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Larry Langford, flanked by officials from Energen and Alagasco, announced that the city will lease 70 CNG garbage and rubbish trucks. Energen and Alagasco will help the city seek a $5 million federal grant for the needed CNG station. The city expects to make the grant application at the end of May, and have a response by September. The new trucks will make up the largest fleet of natural gas-fueled refuse and trash trucks in the Southeast, said the Mayor. Langford said the new trucks and the application for a CNG station to fuel them make both economic and environmental sense. "Maybe America is about to wake up," he said. "This is just going to be the first step in Birmingham, Alabama. This world is changing and we had better wake up and change with it." The new trucks are expected to save more than 5,200 barrels of oil a year. In addition, the city's new Honda Civic, powered by natural gas was on display. The mayor will use the car, which was approved by the council earlier this month. For more information, contact Alagasco’s Jim Tilley at 205.326.8117 or jim.tilley@energen.com