Natural Gas Lowest Price in a Decade Under $2!
For more than a decade, the price of natural gas has not been below $2 per 1,000 cubic feet until now. The supply is growing so fast that US storage facilities could be full later this year. Benefits of the low price of natural gas include not sparing use for heating purposes at homes or factories, and for manufacturers who use natural gas for processing goods and other materials. Also, electricity rates have been lower because natural gas is used to generate around a quarter of the overall electric power of the nation. There is a great abundance of natural gas being produced and so much still in the ground that economists wonder where to use it while companies who produce gas are beginning to suffer. If the price lowers to $1.75, that would be the lowest since March 23, 1999. CNG vehicle owners are loving this cheap natural gas!
More CNG Vehicles Hitting the Road!
With such low prices, it is no wonder that more and more CNG vehicles are hitting the road every day. Hertz, one of the top airport car rental providers in the US, recently announced that in early May 2012, a fleet of compressed natural gas (CNG) cars will be available for rent at the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. The vehicles included are two CNG GMC Yukon’s and eight CNG Honda Civics. Each vehicle will have a NeverLost GPS unit to help renters locate local CNG stations when they need to refuel. Hertz has a dedication of providing customers with eco-friendly vehicles. One of several benefits from this program is that with CNG vehicles, the fuel costs half the price of gasoline plus it is domestically produced.
The North Little Rock Police Department has also started going green this year by adding 9 CNG Chevrolet Tahoe’s to their vehicle fleet. These vehicles will be used for patrol, and are the first CNG vehicles used for patrol in Arkansas. The conversion kit cost around $12,000, but they were reimbursed for half by the state.
BAF in Dallas recently celebrated it’s 20,000th vehicle conversion. They expect to convert another 5,000 vehicles this year.
Frito-Lay is jumping on the CNG bandwagon. They announced this week that they will add 67 CNG powered trucks to their fleet. At current prices they will be saving over $2.50 a gallon over diesel. They expect to save over 900,000 gallons of diesel with this move.
Randy’s Environmental Services in Minnesota plans to gradually replace it’s entire fleet with CNG vehicles. Last October they became the first waste disposal company in Minnesota to make the switch to CNG vehicles. They currently have 21 CNG trucks.
The US currently has an estimated 140,000 natural gas vehicles, which is still behind other countries. China’s is estimated to have 1,000,000 natural gas vehicles in 2012. Pakistan leads the way with nearly 3,000,000 CNG natural gas vehicles.
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The EPA scares people from buying CNG conversion kits by saying the kit “must be EPA approved”. And now, states like California have simply said “yes, we agree, the driver must spend $15,000 on an EPA certified kit in order to pass our emissions test”.
This is wrong. IF the EPA would get out the the way then more people could buy a reliable CNG conversion kit like the ones at http://www.skycng.com. The the law of supply and demand would play into shape, and CNG pumps would be everywhere. SkyCNG kits are only about $1000 each. Their quality is just as good, if not better than EPA kits. SkyCNG just hasnt paid the huge fees for the EPA “blessing” of the kit.