Press Contact: Sophie Cardona: (212) 361-2400, ext. 244 , or email cardona@informinc.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, February 4, 2002

MANHATTAN BEER'S NATURAL GAS TRUCKS SET AN EXAMPLE
FOR COMPANIES NATIONWIDE AND MEAN CLEANER AIR FOR NEW YORK CITY

By Joanna D. Underwood -- President, INFORM

Bronx, NY-– Manhattan Beer’s natural gas delivery truck fleet marks a pioneering step forward for the company. By shifting 15 diesel delivery trucks to compressed natural gas (CNG), Manhattan Beer is making its operations more efficient and secure while contributing to cleaner air for New York City. We congratulate Manhattan Beer, Kingdom Group, Bell Power Systems, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), New York City’s Private Fleet Alternative-Fuel Program, and the Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Program for this successful collaboration. Their efforts attest to the power of partnerships in effecting change.

What difference do 15 natural gas delivery trucks make? A lot! Every one of these delivery trucks contributes to a healthier New York City. This city has among the worst air quality in the nation and has the highest rate of asthma per capita. Emissions from oil-derived fuels, especially diesel, are a significant cause.

Children are most at risk. A study by the Center for Children’s Health at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine found asthma hospitalization rates among children in our city’s poorer and minority communities up to 21 times higher than in wealthier neighborhoods. Manhattan Beer’s Bronx distribution facility borders the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx, where the asthma hospitalization rate for children 0-14 years of age is the third highest among the 41 neighborhoods that comprise the five boroughs (behind only East and Central Harlem). Natural gas emissions contain virtually none of the small particles that are major triggers for asthma attacks.

Over the next twelve years, Manhattan Beer’s 15-vehicle fleet promise to displace 540,000 gallons of highly polluting diesel fuel and prevent 177 tons of emissions. As Manhattan Beer and other companies increase their clean-fueled fleets, these benefits will of course multiply.

Every natural gas powered delivery truck sets an example for the commercial vehicle sector. There are more than 78,000 commercial vehicles registered in New York City, the vast majority of which burn conventional diesel and gasoline fuels. The project dedicated today shows commercial vehicles, including delivery trucks, to be a significant clean fuels market that, along with transit and school buses, garbage trucks, and taxis, has exciting potential for change. Kingdom Group has played a vital catalytic role by putting natural gas fueling infrastructure in place.

Every natural gas truck increases the reliance of city businesses on a secure fuel source. Natural gas is domestically plentiful. It is not subject to the whim of foreign oil sellers or international politics. Since the mid-1970s, our national leaders have urged a U.S. shift from foreign oil to domestic fuels.

While residential, utility and commercial use of oil has dropped 17% since then, oil use by our transportation sector has soared by 43%. Vehicles now consume two-thirds of the oil used in this country – more than our total domestic oil production. They are the main reason that we are so dependent on foreign oil. We realize more every day the severe risks posed by this dependence.

What Manhattan Beer and its collaborators have begun in the South Bronx, hundreds of businesses using delivery truck fleets – in New York City and across the nation – can emulate. We hope this example will inspire them to do so.

INFORM is a national nonprofit organization that identifies practical ways of living and doing business that are environmentally sustainable. For more than a decade, INFORM's reports on alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies have been respected resources worldwide.