Aug. 20, 2011

Natural Gas Powers Milk Delivery Trucks in Indiana (Text Version)

This is a text version of the video segment Natural Gas Powers Milk Delivery Trucks in Indiana, which aired on Aug. 20, 2011.

JOHN DAVIS: Our success story this week takes us to Northern Indiana and the 15,000-acre Fair Oaks farm, where a public-access compressed natural gas station is being built to service a new fleet of 42 CNG milk delivery trucks.

A majority of the fuel will come from a planned biomethane pipeline. Outlined by these yellow-flag stakes, it will stretch 4.5 miles to an underground anaerobic digester. The digester breaks down waste from the farm's 11,000 cows into methane gas.

Currently, Fair Oaks uses the biogas for power generation. This new waste-to-wheels fueling effort will help Fair Oaks reach its goal of reducing their milk long-haul carbon footprint by 25%.

MARK STOERMANN: We decided that we would try to compress the gas—use it for fuel to actually deliver our milk to the processing plants in three different states: Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

JOHN DAVIS: By working with both of the Indiana Clean Cities coalitions and the state and federal government on this project, Fair Oaks estimates CNG will displace 1.8 million gallons of diesel per year, helping the Hoosier State milk a renewable, green fuel for all it's worth.