EQT Grants Help Nonprofits Acquire Natural Gas Vehicles

EQT Corp. officials said the EQT Foundation has awarded more than $900,000 in grants to five Pittsburgh-area nonprofit organizations to use natural gas vehicles in programs that benefit the region's residents and communities.

“These organizations are working hard to promote goodwill throughout our community,” said foundation President Charlene Petrelli. “Grants from the EQT Foundation will help them with the purchase of NGVs, which in turn becomes a win-win situation all around — for the organization, the environment, and the community."

Using the vehicles benefits the organizations because compressed natural gas is less expensive than gasoline or diesel, Petrelli said. The energy company is converting its own fleet and that of its subsidiary, Equitable Gas Co., to use natural gas, and in July it opened a public-access natural gas station in Pittsburgh's Strip District neighborhood.

Recipients of EQT Foundation grants in recent months include:

• Carnegie Science Center— one bi-fuel vehicle for use in an EQT-sponsored “Science on the Road” program. Bi-fuel vehicles operate on gasoline and CNG.
• Family House— one CNG vehicle to transport patients and families who seek treatment for serious or life-threatening illnesses at Pittsburgh-area hospitals.
• Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium— one CNG vehicle for community outreach in environmental programs.
• Manchester Bidwell Corporation— two CNG passenger vans for community outreach and student programs.
• Allegheny CleanWays— one CNG truck to help expand its “DumpBusters” clean-up program for communities outside Pittsburgh.