GHG Emissions, Sourcing Renewables  -  February 10, 2021

LA Metro transitions bus fleet to low-carbon fuel

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) announced on Feb. 8 that it has signed an agreement to purchase enough renewable natural gas (RNG) to fuel its bus fleet—the nation’s largest. This agreement will mark the completion of Metro’s five-year goal to transition its 2,400 bus diesel fleet to cleaner, low-carbon fuel.

The transition to RNG will further reduce Metro’s GHG emissions significantly compared to the use of conventional natural gas, driving down Metro’s Scope 1 emissions. Additionally, Metro has been retrofitting and replacing its buses with the Cummins-Westport Low NOx CNG engines that reduce smog-forming NOx to 90% lower than the EPA NOx limit.

“Metro is committed to ensuring a seamless path towards a carbon-neutral future,” Metro’s chief sustainability officer Cris Liban said in a statement. “Our use of RNG alongside our ultra-low NOx engines on our existing CNG fleet provides the most cost-effective, equitable and clean air strategy as we continue to transition to a 100% zero-emissions bus fleet by 2030 and a net zero-emissions agency by 2050.”

Per the agreement, Metro will purchase an estimated 47.5 million gallons RNG from Clean Energy Fuels Corp. RNG is the first renewable and commercially available vehicle fuel made entirely from organic waste. Clean Energy’s RNG is derived from capturing the biogenic methane produced by the decomposition of organic waste from dairies, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. RNG reduces climate-harming greenhouse gas emissions by at least 70%, and even up to 300% depending on the source of the RNG, making it a negative carbon fuel.

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