Verizon is doing its bit to reduce its carbon footprint. The company selected Steelweld Equipment Co., a business headquartered in St. Clair, Mo., to bring in environmentally friendly compressed natural gas vehicles to its truck fleets in California.
The company believes that these types of contracts stimulate economic development and tap into innovation and entrepreneurship.
To convert 300 gasoline-powered Ford E-250 cargo vans to CNG, Verizon (News - Alert) has entered into a contract with Steelweld. This is considered to be a move that will reduce vehicle carbon emissions by 480 tons per year. Compared to gasoline-powered vans, CNG engines emit 23 percent less carbon dioxide, stated Verizon. The 300 new vans being retrofitted by Steelweld will be used in Southern California by Verizon technicians who install and repair broadband, TV and voice communications services.
“We've taken more steps to work with network equipment manufacturers to increase the energy efficiency of our operations, like reducing the heat output of chipsets and circuit boards to curb the need for air conditioning in our switching facilities," said Margaret Serjak, Verizon's operations president in Calif., in a press release. "These new CNG vans aren't the first alternative fuel vehicles we've deployed in California, but they constitute one of our largest introductions to date,” Serjak added.
Verizon took steps in 2008 to reduce its energy consumption and shrink the company's carbon footprint by establishing its own energy-consumption standards for new telecommunications network equipment. The 300 vans are among the more than 1,600 alternative energy vehicles that Verizon plans to add to its nationwide fleet this year.
Recently, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to an improved environment, Verizon purchased the CNG Ford E-250 vans fitted with clean-burning compressed natural gas engine packages instead of the conventional gas models. The company purchased the vans from Ukiah Ford in Ukiah, Calif. They will be used wherever they have retail infrastructures in place for fueling.
Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Raju’s articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Jaclyn Allard
