FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 23

LOMPOC, CA — The City of Lompoc and Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) today greeted the arrival of four new Clean Air Express buses, three equipped with low-emission dual-fuel engines. Lompoc is the first location in the country to use these engines for highway bus service.

Lompoc Mayor Joyce Howerton said, "On behalf of the City of Lompoc, I would like to thank the Project Partners, the State of California, and the local Air Pollution Control District for their funding of such an innovative program, which benefits the citizens of the Lompoc Valley. The Clean Air Express Program has been highly successful to date, and these new buses will allow for the program to be expanded, and assured of its continued success."

Remarked State Senator Jack O’Connell, "I am pleased to be here today to congratulate the City of Lompoc on the arrival of its four new Clean Air Express buses. Utilizing this technology for the first time in commuter buses will not only provide Lompoc, but all of California, with another way to clean the air. I also want to thank the numerous public agencies and private companies for working together to bring these dual-fuel, low-emission buses to Lompoc."

The 55-passenger buses will transport Lompoc Valley commuters to work in Santa Barbara and Goleta. The three dual-fuel engines run simultaneously on compressed natural gas (approximately 85%) and diesel (approximately 15%). They produce 50% fewer emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) than the standard for diesel-only engines. APCD will be evaluating performance, emissions and fuel efficiency of the three dual-fuel engines, as compared with the fourth diesel-only bus engine, which will serve as a control.

"This is off-the-shelf, commercially available technology with the potential for wide application in bus service. We have the chance now to see it in action, and to develop the numbers on emissions, efficiency and cost that commercial bus operators need to convert to cleaner fuels," said Doug Allard, APCD Director.

The dual-fuel engines can run on diesel alone at a reduced power level, in the event they run out of compressed natural gas (CNG). Because they are made by converting existing diesel engines, they are approximately 25% cheaper to purchase than engines designed to use only CNG. The dual-fuel system can also be retrofitted to some post-1993 bus and truck diesel engine models, potentially converting thousands of diesel engines to dual-fuel operation.

The City of Lompoc purchased the buses with Congestion Management and Air Quality (CMAQ) funding from the Federal Transit Authority, with matching funds provided by APCD. The conversion to dual-fuel technology was funded by Southern California Gas Company and the California Energy Commission through funds from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The buses will start commuter service January 29.

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