FORT BENNING, Ga., (April 29, 2015) -- Fort Benning's first relocatable compressed natural gas station became operational April 17 during a ceremony at the Sand Hill Transportation Motor Pool.
The Honorable Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment was present for the ceremony and took time to ask technical questions about the new station and how it would benefit Fort Benning.
Numerous executive orders over the last 10 years have required federal agencies to reduce their fossil fuel consumption and increase energy efficiency, including EO 13514, which mandated the reduction of fleet petroleum consumption by 2 percent annually against a 2005 baseline with the hope of a 20 percent reduction by 2020. Through down and rightsizing of its fleet vehicles the Army achieved a 38.4 percent reduction of their fleet petroleum by the end of fiscal 2014.
However, the opening of the CNG station coincides with the signing of executive order 13693 March 19, which changed the management metric for federal fleets from fuel reduction to Greenhouse gas emissions reduction; federal agencies have been directed to accelerate their transition from "business as usual" vehicles to alternative fueled vehicles using compressed natural gas.
Fort Benning is the first installation to host a CNG fuel point, and as part of the program, will replace six retiring diesel buses with CNG fueled buses and operate the fuel station for a 12-month demonstration period to determine a transition timeline to CNG-fueled buses and other vehicles at select installations in the future.
"This CNG station is a significant step toward diversity in our alternative fuels and improves our energy security posture," said Mark Fincher, Directorate of Public Works energy manager at Fort Benning. "CNG vehicles are the wave of the future and will become more significant because of the relative low cost of the fuel."
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