San Francisco to Demonstrate
Next Generation of
Westport HPDI Truck Technology
From the San Francisco Department of Environment
October 6, 2005
VANCOUVER, BC - Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT) yesterday
announced a new agreement and expanded commitment from the City
of San Francisco and Norcal Waste Systems Inc., the city's refuse
collection, recycling and transfer company, to demonstrate and
deploy Westport's most advanced natural gas technology for heavy-duty
trucks through to 2011.
Goals of the program include improving combustion and reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.
As part of its commitment, SF Recycling & Disposal, a Norcal
subsidiary, will upgrade three of its 13 heavy-duty transfer trucks
currently operating on Westport's first-generation High Pressure
Direct Injection (HPDI) technology. The new trucks will incorporate
several major improvements over those first-generation vehicles,
including enhanced vehicle performance, lower emissions, higher
fuel economy, and reliability.
New features include Westport's proprietary low heat-leak LNG
tanks with integrated LNG pumps, and higher pressure improved
common-rail injection system for better combustion and emissions
at all operating conditions.
Since they were first put into service in 2001, the transfer
trucks, fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG), have logged almost
five million miles (eight million kilometers) and reduced fleet
emissions by approximately 30 tons. Over the course of the new
LNG powered truck program, it is estimated the trucks will save
a total of approximately 70 tons of emissions.
"San Francisco is recognized as a leader in the development
and deployment of alternative fuel vehicles both within our own
city fleet and among private fleets like Norcal," said Jared
Blumenfeld, the City's Director, Department of the Environment.
"The advancement of natural gas technologies such as Westport's
HPDI among heavy-duty trucks is good for local air quality, reduces
greenhouse gases, and lessens our dependence on imported oil.
The city is proud to be a part of an initiative that impacts all
three of these critical local, national, and global objectives."
Bennie Anselmo, Norcal's Fleet Manager, said he is happy with
the operation of the Westport natural gas trucks to date and looking
forward to having even cleaner, better performing trucks on the
road by the end of the year.
"Our drivers appreciate the clean-burning characteristics,
the quiet ride, and, above all, the performance that these trucks
have been able to show under extremely demanding operating conditions,"
said Anselmo.
The truck upgrades will feature new 400-horsepower Cummins ISX
engines equipped with Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) and Westport's
second-generation HPDI fuel system fuelled by LNG. The three trucks
will be certified at the California Air Resources Board 2007 emissions
levels for NOx and PM, and are supported by a previously announced
award from the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL).
"These heavy-duty trucks are the first Westport second-generation
trucks to be adopted in the US, and will be among the cleanest
ever deployed in North America. We are delighted to have both
the City's and Norcal's confidence and support, as well as that
of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, for our technology
development program," said Westport President Michael Gallagher.
"Their ongoing leadership is showing the way for other jurisdictions
to find natural gas-based solutions for the nation's energy and
environmental security challenges."
The Westport-equipped transfer trucks operating at Norcal make
up to six 120-mile round trips per day from the company's transfer
station on the outskirts of San Francisco to the Altamont landfill
site. Each truck operates at a gross vehicle weight of 80,000
pounds.
Collectively, Norcal subsidiaries operate a fleet of approximately
1,100 vehicles. The companies provide solid waste management and
recycling for more than 400,000 residential and 50,000 commercial
customers in San Francisco and more than 50 other communities
in California.
Westport Innovations Inc. is the leading developer of environmental
technologies that allow engines to operate on clean-burning fuels
such as natural gas, hydrogen, and hydrogen-enriched natural gas
(HCNG). Westport has technology development alliances in place
with Ford, MAN, BMW, and Isuzu, as well as an ownership interest
in Clean Energy, the largest provider of natural gas for vehicles
in North America.
Westport's joint venture with Cummins Inc., manufactures and
sells the world's widest range of low-emissions alternative fuel
engines for commercial transportation applications such as trucks
and buses.
####
|