"It'll look like a regular gas station but with a different nozzle," Bloodworth said.
There are 15 natural gas stations in Maryland, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Web site. This project would be the first to be used to fuel garbage trucks, said Robert Ballinger, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of the Environment.
The money saved by using natural gas instead of diesel fuel would be significant.
The latest Clean Cities Alternative Price Report, which is issued quarterly by a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, says the average price for a gallon of diesel in the Mid-Atlantic region was $4.35 in April, compared with $2.78 for the equivalent amount of energy in natural gas.
"For the same amount of energy, oil is selling for about twice what natural gas is," said John C. Felmy, chief economist at the American Petroleum Institute.
While the price of regular gasoline has soared in recent years, diesel prices have shot up even more. The average price for a gallon of diesel fuel in the U.S. jumped from $1.32 in 2002 to $2.89 last year, according to the Energy Information Administration.
It reached $4.68 in June, a jump of 66 percent over the corresponding month last year. The price of a gallon of regular gasoline, by comparison, has risen 33 percent over the period, to an average of $4.05 in June.
The environmental benefits of converting county trash truck fleets to natural gas can be harder to pinpoint, said Jim Blubaugh, director of the EPA's national clean-diesel campaign. Newer diesel engines, he said, are as eco-friendly as those using natural gas.
"Heavy-duty engines coming off the assembly line today are meeting the EPA's tightest emission standards ever," Blubaugh said. "There are a number of strategies for reducing emissions from an older diesel fleet. Converting to clean natural gas is certainly one way to go."
Anne Arundel County requires its contractors to buy new vehicles on signing a new contract, but in Howard County many of the trucks are older and cause more pollution, said Evelyn Tomlin, chief of the Bureau of Environmental Services in Howard County.
Both counties have signed on to an application seeking the $600,000 grant from the EPA's National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program.
The money would go to contractors to offset the cost of buying the new natural gas trucks, which can cost upward of $50,000 more than diesel trucks, said Bloodworth, who said the average diesel truck costs $175,000. Converting a diesel truck to natural gas costs at least $50,000, Bloodworth said.
The incentive for local companies to make the switch, government officials said, is that the drop-off in fuel costs would allow them to undercut competitors during the bidding process.
James J. Pittman, deputy director for Anne Arundel Waste Management Services, said the county will "probably be putting a preference" on signing contracts with companies that change to natural gas.
That might not sit well with some haulers who will have to buy the new vehicles, though seven companies with contracts in Anne Arundel and Howard counties did not return phone calls or declined to comment.
Bloodworth said he expects some resistance.
"It's a change of thinking, and people are resistant to change," Bloodworth said. "Eventually, they will find out that the trucks are 80 percent quieter, the garbagemen don't come home smelling like diesel, and the owners save money on fuel."
steven.stanek@baltsun.com
