Rapid adoption of compressed natural gas usage by various organizations has led to an exponential increase in use at Nopetro’s Leon County, Fla.-based fueling facility, announced company CEO Jorge Herrera.

Nopetro began operating a CNG facility in August 2012 as a result of being awarded the opportunity to fuel Leon County Public School buses with compressed natural gas.  The company constructed the facility at their expense as part of a first-of-its-kind public/private partnership that was the genesis of their winning bid.

Results have far exceeded year-one expectations due to an increase in demand by various organizations to use Nopetro’s CNG facility. Nopetro anticipated dispensing 100,000 gallons during the initial year. Instead the facility provided an estimated 400,000 gallons of CNG fuel to serve the needs of its growing clientele.

The rapid rise in demand came from a variety of avenues, including additional buses and waste vehicles from the city and county, contracts with private companies who utilize CNG vehicles such as WastePro and Saddle Creek Logistics, as well as consumer usage from individuals with CNG automobiles, such as the Honda Civic GX and Ford 150.

Florida-based Nopetro’s innovative CNG fueling solutions offers more than financial savings to the district. The switch to natural gas will cut emissions drastically, including particulate matter by 89%, carbon monoxide by 70%, carbon dioxide by 25% and nitrous oxide by 80%.

Other counties and school districts are following suit. In fact, Nopetro was recently awarded two other CNG fueling station projects with Osceola County and the Charlotte County Public School district.

Using the natural gas reserves of the U.S., which is the largest in the world, Nopetro is building a network of CNG fueling stations across the state.