The city of Springfield on Friday formally dedicated its compressed natural gas station, the closest of its type within 90 miles.
The city held a soft opening in June for the station, 1111 W. Chestnut Expressway, which was funded by a U.S. Department of Energy matching grant and was about three years in the making. Public Works Assistant Director Jonathan Gano, who manages the $1.4 million project, said the station pumped roughly 1,500 gallons from mid-June to mid-September.
"It has the benefit of offering a domestically produced transportation fuel. If we can convert vehicles to run on natural gas, it definitely has dramatic improvements in air quality coming out of the back of the tailpipe; it makes economic sense for the customer. It's a positive step for actually doing something about reducing our reliance on foreign oil," Gano said, noting the biggest barriers to implementation of the service are the cost of vehicle conversion and the availability of stations. There are 13 CNG stations operating within 150 miles of Springfield, with the next closest station in Miami, Okla., according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
The $700,000 federal grant allows for roughly 20 vehicles for the Public Works Department, City Utilities and Greene County to use the CNG station. Gano said the Springfield Police Department in the near future plans to order two CNG-powered vehicles, and the Missouri Department of Transportation also has plans to use the station for its local efforts.
Gano said he is not aware of any plans in place by local companies to convert fleets to use the CNG station, but he said there has been interest. "I did have privately owned fleets contact me before the station opened," he said.
The CNG station operates at the Public Works Operation Center. The station sells CNG at $1.75 per gallon of gasoline equivalent, and according to the city, a GGE has the same energy content as a gallon of gasoline.
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