LOS ANGELES, Feb. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern
California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) will once again highlight innovative
natural gas technologies at the 50th Annual World
Agricultural (Ag) Expo, Feb. 14 -16,
at the International Agri-Center in Tulare, California. Also known as "The Farm
Show," the three-day event is the largest event of its kind—and
SoCalGas is one of its original participants.
SoCalGas' booth will be located at H and Meridian streets at the
event and will feature:
- information on how repowering irrigation wells from diesel
or electric to natural gas can reduce pumping costs by more
than half;
- a live renewable natural gas demonstration showing how dairy
waste can be converted into usable energy;
- a long-haul semi-truck equipped with Cummins-Westport's new 400
horsepower 11.9-liter engine shown to reduce harmful emissions by
90 percent; and
- information about how on-site distributed generation can use
agricultural waste or excess heat to replace power from the
electric utility.
"Clean, affordable natural gas can help farmers save money and
will help California meet its
clean air and renewable energy goals," said Lisa Alexander, SoCalGas' vice president of
customer solutions and communications. "We're proud to offer
affordable, low-cost natural gas to farmers in our service
territory, and it's exciting to see how we can help this very
important industry save money, energy, and water by using natural
gas."
An increasing number of area growers have been repowering their
irrigation wells from diesel to natural gas. The savings are
significant and some growers have already realized one-year
paybacks on their engine purchases. And, at roughly half the cost,
natural gas is still a cost-effective alternative to using
electricity for irrigation.
As the need for groundwater pumping increased during
California's historic drought,
SoCalGas partnered with area farmers by installing dozens of new
services and meters to serve irrigation wells. Natural gas is the
lowest-cost energy alternative for water pumping over the past
decade and more cost effective than electricity and diesel.
For instance, to power a150-horsepower irrigation well, at current
market prices, the hourly costs are: $20.40 for an electric motor; $18.45 for a diesel engine; and $8.63 for a natural gas engine.
SoCalGas continues to help its customers identify and implement
other energy saving projects as well. Last year alone, SoCalGas
returned more than $500,000 in energy
efficiency funds to food processing customers in the San Joaquin Valley. These projects included:
heat recovery at a dairy processing plant; equipment modernization
in a nut processing plant; pump efficiency improvements and other
efforts.
About World Ag Expo
The World Ag Expo is largest annual agricultural exposition of its
kind and boasts more than 1,500 exhibitors displaying cutting-edge
agricultural technology and equipment on 2.6 million square feet of
exhibit space. A record-setting 106,349 people came from 47
states and 79 countries to attend 2016 World Ag Expo.The World Ag
Expo Arena will once again offer daily Equipment Showcases, where
exhibitors will perform live demonstrations of their latest
products. Seminars will be offered in a variety of categories,
including dairy, irrigation, international trade, business and farm
management, marketing and media, and general agriculture. These
seminars are presented by professionals in the industry and provide
attendees with valuable information to improve their
operations.
About Southern California Gas Co.
Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has been delivering clean,
safe, and reliable natural gas to its customers for more than 145
years. It is the nation's largest natural gas distribution utility,
providing service to 21.6 million consumers connected through 5.9
million meters in more than 500 communities. The company's service
territory encompasses approximately 20,000 square miles throughout
central and Southern California,
from Visalia to the Mexican
border. SoCalGas is a regulated subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE:
SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in
San Diego.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/socalgas-to-feature-biogas-technology-and-powerful-new-compressed-natural-gas-big-rigs-at-50th-annual-world-agricultural-expo-300406500.html
SOURCE Southern California Gas Co.