February 23, 2022. The Grand Rapids City Commission approved an agreement between the City and the Interurban Transit Partnership (The Rapid) for the purchase of compressed natural gas (CNG). Under the agreement, the City will fill its CNG fleet of vehicles at The Rapid’s recently completed CNG bus fueling facility, 1020 Market Avenue SW.
The fuel being dispensed from this location represents a three-way partnership between The Rapid, City and DTE Energy (DTE). The City will pump pipeline grade renewable natural gas (RNG), in the form of CNG, from the Environmental Services Department’s biodigester into DTE’s pipeline, which will transport the RNG to The Rapid’s fueling facility. Some of the RNG will come full circle in that it is produced by the City, sold to The Rapid fueling station and then purchased by the City to fuel its vehicles. The City will save money and achieve operational benefits by purchasing RNG from The Rapid fueling station. The one-year agreement sets the fuel cost at $1.74 per diesel gallon equivalent (DGE) for a total not to exceed $150,000.
The unique environmental partnership between the City, DTE and The Rapid is possible following construction of the City’s biodigester. The City decided to construct a biodigester at its Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) to accommodate the growing amount of waste being generated by the community and sent to the WRRF for processing. The biodigester is a less expensive alternative to expanding the existing WRRF. In addition, the biodigester allows the City to produce RNG, which is a valuable market commodity.
The biodigester project began initial processing of waste late last year and is now poised to begin delivery of RNG to DTE and The Rapid fueling station. In addition, RNG produced at the City’s biodigester will also be used to fuel DTE-owned CNG stations within the state.
RNG fuel holds some of the lowest carbon intensity of any on-road vehicle fuel. The Rapid will be able to utilize this fuel immediately in their fleet without the need for massive infrastructure changes or investments. The Rapid’s fleet currently consists of 161 buses, 98 of which will run on RNG. Diesel buses will continue to be retired and replaced by RNG vehicles.