spark360 Behind The Scenes: BAF Technologies

The BAF Technologies story is a “green” story, to be sure; compressed natural gas for cars is much easier on the environment than petroleum-based fuels. And it is cheaper, with CNG costing about a dollar a gallon less than gasoline. Usually, all that would be more than enough for BAF to get the mainstream media’s attention.

But BAF president John Bacon is casting his company’s appeal as something much more valuable; namely, national security.

“It’s domestic fuel,” Bacon told me. “We don’t have to go outside the United States for the fuel. We have over 200 years of natural gas in the United States right now. So by staying here, we keep our dollars at home, we don’t do business with people that don’t like us a whole lot, and we keep our country safe.”

CNG is an alternative fuel option that has received much attention from government agencies and private analysts. More companies will soon be under pressure to find more cost-effective ways to maintain vehicle fleets. Municipal entities, utilities and public transportation outlets will also be looking to upgrade their vehicles to run a form of CNG, so BAF Technologies sees itself as being in a very sweet spot in the entrepreneurial process.

Our cameras visited BAF’s installation facility in Dallas to watch them switch out traditional gas tanks for CNG systems. The customer? A major telecommunications company that has already heard the siren call of alternative fuels. So the A-list companies on the Fortune 1000 have gotten the word; natural gas for cars can be greener and more economical for a company’s bottom line.

But with fresh unrest racing its way around the oil-producing nations of the Middle East, Bacon’s strategy for CNG as a safeguard against foreign oil dependence suddenly takes on new meaning.

- Renay San Miguel