Business View Magazine | February 2019

296 we are asking the right questions. Before launch- ing the full program, we will be doing a five- month pilot project with 15 participants, so we can integrate their feedback and ensure we address the right questions around key pollution prevention, resource conservation, and socioeco- nomic concerns.” Another major sustainability initiative involves an innovative RNG (renewable natural gas) proj- ect being instituted at the Longmont wastewater treatment plant. Essentially, it uses the methane from the decomposition process at the plant to create renewable natural gas. RNG is a biogas, not a fossil fuel. “We clean and compress the methane to a usable form to fuel our sanitation trucks,” says Knoblauch. “That’s a big win for us from the sustainability standpoint; to move those trucks off of diesel to a renewable fuel source we’re producing ourselves at our wastewater treatment plant.” According to Charles Kamenides, City of Long- mont Waste Services Manager, the process will capture the methane, but that is only one of its benefits. “Our trucks drive throughout the city all week, and we will basically eliminate the exhaust caused by burning fossil fuels,” he says. “The trucks get about three miles per gallon of diesel, so we’ll be able to reduce those emissions from our community, and also reduce our cost for purchasing diesel fuel.We have 18 trucks run- ning on a daily basis and we’re going to launch with 11 new CNG (compressed natural gas) ve- hicles, so that will make a huge impact.” “The project really worked out well, timing-wise, because our Council provided the directive to