With the amount of economic instability recently in the steel industry, companies are taking advantage of every resource at their disposal. Grant funding is becoming much more highly sought among steel companies, even those at the top of the food chain.
Recently, U.S. Steel, one of the world’s largest producers of steel products, announced that it was the recipient of grant funding from the state of Pennsylvania through the Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant program. This Department of Environmental Protection fund, which seeks to encourage new markets within Pennsylvania for alternative fuels, will award $52,618 to U.S. Steel to convert eight company vehicles to run on compressed natural gas.
This year, Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection awarded a total of $3 million to 33 different companies within the state through this grant program. Besides compressed natural gas, this grant was also awarded to companies who implemented fuel conversions to either propane or liquefied natural gas for their vehicle fleet.
U.S. Steel’s decision to convert the vehicles to a compressed natural gas system follows on the heels of the corporation’s 2011 opening of a compressed natural gas fueling station. This chain of events is designed to reduce fuel costs for all U.S. Steel vehicles; this natural gas fuel system can provide a savings of 60 cents or more per gallon compared to diesel or gasoline.
In order to compete in our growing global economy, domestic steel greatly benefits from public resources such as these. Public support of these industries is also very important for our manufacturing industries, which can still be a source of great jobs across the nation. Steel companies have to work harder than ever before just to stay afloat, and in some cases, these kinds of grant programs can provide necessary funding.
Florida Pipe & Steel will be updating our readers on news reports like this to give you a better idea of the health of the domestic steel industry. Make sure to check back often to get a closer view of American manufacturing.
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