Andrew Littlefair is a champion for the use of cleaner alternative fuels in transportation. He’s the President and Chief Executive Officer of Clean Energy, the largest provider of vehicular natural gas and related services in North America.
Under Mr. Littlefair’s leadership, Clean Energy designed and built America’s first “Natural Gas Highway,” a network of truck fueling stations that will allow shipping of goods nationwide with near zero-emission trucks powered by low carbon, domestically-produced natural gas.
Littlefair’s focus on cleaner fuels for fleets is a potential game-changer when it comes to curbing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. After all, diesel, which is currently used to power most buses, trucks, trains and boats in coastal areas, is one of the dirtiest fuels. It’s a major factor in air pollution causing health problems in California’s cities, major transportation corridors and areas adjacent to the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. According to the Orange County Register, “Clean Energy is on the leading edge of what many industry experts see as a revolution in transportation, with broad implications for the nation’s environment and its national security.”
In an interview with Smart Business last year, Littlefair explained Clean Energy’s unique place in the alternative fuels market:
“We needed to focus on fleets, and fleets that use a lot of fuel, so we really tried to carefully design around those markets. Then, we have stayed laser focused on going after those. We focus on airports and vehicles that operate out of airports, refuse trucks, transit buses, and now heavy duty trucks… Ultimately, we’re faced not only with running a business, but also creating an industry. That is kind of a significant, ongoing and important challenge that we face. Moving people to a new fuel has all sorts of new stuff associated with it. It’s easier today than it has been in the past, but it has been a challenge and it will continue to be a challenge that keeps us on our toes.”
Now, Clean Energy’s renewable fuels division is focused on harnessing the potential for biomethane as fuel for fleet vehicles. This past October, the company announced it will be the first to commercially distribute a renewable natural gas vehicle fuel, called Redeem, made from waste streams such as landfills, large dairies and sewage plants directly to fleets around the country and at the 35 public Clean Energy stations throughout California. Thousands of cars, taxis, shuttles and industrial fleets in California are now using Clean Energy’s Redeem, which is up to 90% cleaner than diesel and 100% renewable.
According to Littlefair, the goal is to produce and distribute 15 million gallons of Redeem in the first year, which can “make significant progress towards achieving California’s climate change goals and prove that this is a viable, cleaner and abundant alternative fuel source for our future.”
Littlefair believes California’s leadership in addressing the threat of climate change and its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions make it the ideal state in which to launch Clean Energy’s Redeem fuel: “the lowest carbon footprint fuel commercially available and the only affordable renewable fuel for heavy duty trucks.”
According to California Air Resource Board estimates, Redeem sourced from landfill gas can enable up to a 90% reduction in carbon emissions when displacing diesel or gasoline in CNG. A fleet that consumes 1,000,000 gallons of gasoline per year can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 9,700 metric tons by switching to Redeem, which is the equivalent of taking 1,940 passenger cars off the road per year.
According to California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary D. Nichols: “Clean Energy’s new Redeem product will help cut greenhouse gas emissions on our roads while providing customers a lowerpriced fuel when compared to gasoline or diesel. I applaud Clean Energy’s vision to provide a fuel that is both good for the consumer and the air we breathe.”
Previous to his leadership at Clean Energy, Andrew Littlefair served as Chairman of NGVAmerica, a national organization dedicated to the development of a growing, sustaintable and profitable market for vehicles powered by natural gas or hydrogen. Before that, he served as President of Pickens Fuel Corp., a predecessor company of Clean Energy, which he founded in 1997 with Boone Pickens.
CLCV will honor Andrew Littlefair with our Environmental Leadership Award at our annual event in Los Angeles this Thursday, December 5th.
