In the near future, when you see an AT&T vehicle pull up, it may be doing so in a more environmentally friendly way. The company has announced a partnership with BAF Technologies, a Dallas-based company that provides natural gas vehicle upfits.
In 2009, 600 of AT&T’s vans will be converted to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) technology by BAF Technologies. CNG vehicles are supposed to emit approximately one-fourth less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional gas-powered vehicles.
Over the next decade, the communications provider expects to buy an estimated 8,000 CNG vehicles. This is part of the company’s long-term strategy to send out more than 15,000 alternative-fuel vehicles by 2019, spending $565 million. According to the release, this represents “the largest U.S. corporate commitment to CNG vehicles to date.”
These upfits will be both environmentally and economically beneficial, according to the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). Environmentally, the group estimates that nearly 50 million gallons of gas will be saved and more than 200,000 metric tons of carbon emissions will be reduced during the 10-year period. On the economic front, CAR estimates more than 1,000 jobs will be created or saved in the United States while AT&T’s purchase program is in operation.
Spending more than half a billion dollars is a big investment, no question, but knowing that you’re creating or saving jobs and helping the environment makes that investment worthwhile.
