Findlay companies get grants for natural gas car technology

By Justin Michaels - bio | email

Posted by Lisa Strawbridge - email

FINDLAY, OH (WTOL) - Kirk Energy Group of Findlay got a $2.7 million federal grant to develop compressed natural gas technology (CNG) in cars, trucks and school buses across Ohio.

Kirk Energy manager Andrew Rill says natural gas vehicles, called NGVs, are about three to five years from becoming mainstream. The only one currently in production is the Honda NGV.

The grant money will be used to build four natural gas fueling stations because Rill says the availability of fueling stations is necessary for people to feel comfortable with the technology. The stations will be built in Findlay, Bowling Green, Toledo and Dayton, which will double the total number of stations in the state.

The Findlay station will be built first with construction beginning this summer and business expected to begin in the fall.

City Uniforms and Linen also to receive grant money

Grant money will also be going to Findlay-based City Uniforms and Linen, another early adopter of natural gas technology.

Grant money will be used to purchase four new trucks that operate on natural gas. The cost of natural gas vehicles is a few thousand dollars more than gasoline powered ones, but natural gas is cleaner, more efficient, cheaper and more abundant. Proponents of NGV cars say the difference in cost will pay for itself in two years.

Buck