SEAL BEACH, CA - Clean Energy Fuels Corp. said it plans to expand its network of liquefied natural gas (LNG) truck fueling stations in Southern California this year.

The company already has two LNG stations located at the Los Angeles/Long Beach ports complex. Clean Energy is a major provider of natural gas (CNG and LNG) for transportation in North America. 

New or upgraded Clean Energy LNG fueling facilities are planned for strategic points along truck transport routes in the California cities of Los Angeles, Commerce, Industry, Fontana, Riverside, Tulare, Barstow and Otay Mesa/San Diego. This hub of stations will form the backbone upon which Clean Energy intends to expand its LNG fueling efforts into the Southwestern region of the United States. 

The Southern California network will enable goods to be transported via clean-burning natural gas trucks within local urban areas and along regional goods-movement corridors. Trucks will be able to transport goods from the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, deliver them to distribution centers, and take the goods directly to stores in local communities. 

"This augmented LNG truck fueling capability plays a key role in the creation of a full-scale Southwest LNG truck-fueling corridor," said Andrew Littlefair, Clean Energy president and CEO. "We plan to connect this group of LNG fueling stations in Southern California to Northern California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

"The development of the new station infrastructure is a direct response to the increased demand for natural gas fuel we have observed, as major trucking companies secure and deploy LNG-powered trucks at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports and throughout the region," Littlefair added. 

Adjacent to the ports complex, Clean Energy operates what it describes as the world's largest public LNG truck fueling station. Located on a 2.7-acre site, the station is the second that the company has opened in the area to serve natural gas-powered port drayage trucks. The first, operational since December 2007, is located nearby in the city of Carson. 

Clean Energy designed these two LNG stations to support the goals of the Los Angeles Port's Clean Air Action Plan and Clean Truck programs. These programs call for the retirement or conversion of old diesel trucks entering the ports in favor of new cleaner-burning and alternative-fueled trucks. 

Natural gas vehicle fuel provides lower emissions than gasoline and diesel, including up to a 23-percent reduction in greenhouse gases in medium-and heavy-duty trucking applications. The domestic natural gas used by the trucks also reduces America's dependence on imported oil.