The city of Lafayette will purchase its first natural gas-powered busses this fall, according to a story in this morning's Advocate, and pursue converting other city vehicles to run on compressed natural gas. The city of Lafayette will purchase its first natural gas-powered busses this fall, according to a story in this morning's Advocate, and pursue converting other city vehicles to run on compressed natural gas. There are also plans in the works for a fueling station, a necessity if the city is truly going to switch over to the clean fuel.
While the move, say city planners, is based on the huge Haynesville Shale natural gas bonanza in north Louisiana, this is not the first attempt at running city vehicles on CNG.
If my memory serves me well, there was a natural gas pump installed at the Shell station on the corner of the thruway and Surrey over a decade ago. Then congressman Billy Tauzin cut the ribbon and talked about the clean new future of energy in Louisiana. Which eventually fizzled. Let's hope round two takes.