Fall 2009

Dear friends and colleagues,

Our recent symposium, "Green Fleets: The Future is Now," generated a great deal of interest and excitement about natural gas vehicles.

In response, representatives from several large fleet operators and natural gas producers are in the early stages of organizing a Metroplex Natural Gas Vehicle Consortium.

wo organizational meetings have already been held on the TCU campus, the second bringing together nearly two dozen attendees, including Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Republic Services, Chesapeake Energy, XTO Energy, Clean Energy Fuels, EOG Energy, EnCana, Quicksilver Resources and the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

We are excited about sharing ideas and making progress toward converting more North Texas fleets to natural gas, including developing the necessary fueling station infrastructure.

If you are interested in learning more and being a part of the Metroplex Natural Gas Vehicle Consortium, please contact either me at eireland@bseec.org or Ken Morgan, Ph.D., executive director of the TCU Energy Institute at k.morgan@tcu.edu.

NAT GAS Act

Senate Bill 1408, otherwise known as the NAT GAS Act, is making its way through the Senate and next goes to the Committee on Finance.

If passed, the legislation will expand tax incentives to encourage natural gas vehicle manufacturing in the U.S. This could potentially decrease the nation's dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, and boost the economy through the creation of new manufacturing jobs. Frequent progress updates of Senate Bill 1480 will be posted online at www.bseec.org.

More NGV Information

More information and resources about natural gas vehicles are available on the website, including information about all the incentives and grants that are available in the state of Texas for fleet operators.

Let us know your thoughts, and feel free to share this e-newsletter with others!

Please note, our new office number is: (817) 338-3305.

Sincerely,
Ed Ireland, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Barnett Shale Energy Education Council