Sunoco Opens First Station With Three Alt Fuel Options

PITTSBURGH — A newly reopened APlus convenience store at Pittsburgh International Airport is the first Sunoco gas station in the country to offer three alternative fueling options in addition to traditional gasoline and diesel fuel.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the airport gas station and c-store, which celebrated its reopening June 8, features three compressed natural gas (CNG) pumps, one liquid propane pump and three electric changing stations.

Installation of the CNG pumps was partially funded by a $830,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Increased user demand for alternative fuels, as well as the current cheaper prices of CNG and propane compared to traditional petroleum, were key reasons Sunoco chose to offer alternative fueling options at the airport location, Jeff Shields, Sunoco spokesman, told the newspaper.

All natural gas and propane sold at the Sunoco APlus location will be produced and supplied from within the Pittsburgh region, Shields noted.

The airport location marks Sunoco's second CNG station, first propane station and first electric station in Pennsylvania.

CNG is becoming quite popular in the Pittsburgh region. Rick Price, executive director of Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities, told the news outlet that the Sunoco airport station was the third CNG station to open in Western Pennsylvania in the past two weeks, following openings in Dubois and Bentleyville.