Sep 26, 2023
Make Way for the “CowFartBus”
INGEVITY IN THE NEWS
Orange Grove Charter School goes Green(er) with school bus that runs off renewable natural gas
Its name may be funny, but its mission is sincere.
The “CowFartBus” looks exactly like any other school bus at Orange Grove Charter School in West Ashley. Bright orange-yellow, lumbering down the street, shuttling kids to and from school.
This bus, however, runs off more than the standard diesel for fuel—it’s the first school bus in South Carolina to run on a hybrid of diesel and renewable natural gas, which lessens greenhouse gas emissions without the need to purchase a new bus.
The bus was upfitted with unique technology through a pilot program installed by North Charleston-based Ingevity, a specialty chemicals and materials manufacturer and American CNG®, based in Utah at no cost in order to see if it really made a difference in cost savings by reducing the purchase of diesel fuel and lowering its carbon footprint.
“An Orange Grove parent talked to me about a company that she was working with, Ingevity. And I said, ‘Man, that sounds really interesting,’” said John H. Clendaniel, CEO of Orange Grove Charter School. “We own our own buses, so I said, ‘I’ll certainly have the conversation.’”
The technology allows the bus to run on natural gas for about two hours before switching to full diesel once the natural gas tank is depleted, displacing about 30 percent of its diesel usage.
Similar to an electric vehicle that you plug in, the “CowFartBus” comes with a hose that runs from the bus engine to an existing natural gas line on the school campus to refill with natural gas after each day’s route. Read more…
