By Bobbie J. Clark • bobbieclark@gannett.com • October 21, 2010

The area’s first compressed natural gas/E85 fuel station opened with much pomp and circumstance Wednesday.

The station, which cost Bossier City $2 million, is at 2580 E. Texas St. It includes four E85 pumps and four CNG pumps. People can pay with credit or debit cards.

Several converted natural gas vehicles from local dealerships were parked around the station during the grand opening, but it was the CNG chopper built exclusively for Chesapeake Energy that stole the show. The motorcycle was custom built by Orange County Choppers in New York.

Bossier City will use the station to fuel four CNG-converted dump trucks and dozens of city vehicles that run on E85, which is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The city plans to begin replacing old vehicles with CNG vehicles as needed, a news release states.

The price for CNG was $1.61 per gallon equivalent of gasoline Wednesday. E85 was $1.99 a gallon.

Several local and state dignitaries were on hand Wednesday to help celebrate the station’s grand opening.

Natural gas needs to be the tipping point for a seismic shift in the country’s energy policy, Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle said.

“America is standing at the gates of the golden age of natural gas,” he said.

Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker said the nation needs an alternative fuel like natural gas.

“We had been talking about this for about a year,” he said. “So we decided to quit sucking on the bullet and bite it.”

The city is planning to build another station at 4520 Barksdale Blvd. by the end of the year.

Original Article