Seal Beach-based Clean Energy Fuels Inc., which is backed by legendary oilman T. Boone Pickens, is angling to supply natural gas fuel to trucks as part of a bid to cut diesel pollution at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
The ports unveiled in late June a long-term plan to clean up polluted air at the nation’s busiest port complex. The plan calls for diesel trucks operating at the ports to be converted to engines that run on natural gas or be replaced within five years.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District is set to kick in $200 million over a five-year period to help terminal operators and truck owners offset conversion costs.
Clean Energy, which provides natural gas for buses, taxis and other vehicles, is looking for a piece of the fuel supply contracts.
“(The opportunity) will be significant,” said Andrew Littlefair, Clean Energy’s chief executive.
Littlefair said winning contracts in Southern California could lead to others in Oakland, Houston and elsewhere.
“All of the ports are watching this,” Littlefair said.
Clean Energy plans to bid on the fuel contracts through a partnership with Canada’s Westport Innovations Inc., which is an investor in Clean Energy.
Westport hopes to win contracts to do diesel-to-natural-gas engine conversions for some of the 5,000 18-wheel trucks that pass through the ports, according to Littlefair.
For more on this story, see the Aug. 14 edition of the Business Journal.
