Parish to explore switch to natural gas

01 10, 2012 by Houma Courier

The Terrebonne Parish Council will explore switching its fleet to natural gas to take advantage of what many experts predict will be a surge in domestic production of the fuel in coming years.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday to pay for a $19,000 study to examine the feasibility of converting some or all of the parish's more than 400 vehicles from gasoline and diesel to compressed natural gas.

“It's the wave of the future,” said Parish President Michel Claudet.

The study, by the Baton Rouge-based Professional Engineering Consultants Corp., will examine which vehicles among the parish's cars, trucks and buses would be candidates for conversion to compressed natural gas, the cost of converting them as well as the savings realized, according to a letter sent to the parish government.

“The concept of integrating more ‘green concepts' and engery conservation into your vehicles is not only economic sense but also environmental and public relations sense,” the letter says. The study will take about 90 days.

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