CNG News Update – June 23, 2012

Some great news for Oklahoma and CNG Vehicle drivers, on Monday June 18th, 2012 the Oklahoma Corporation Commission approved a plan for additional incentives for CNG vehicles. The new incentives are in addition to the existing tax credits. The new plan will provide a rebate of $2500 for a dedicated CNG Vehicle, $1500 for a bi-fuel CNG Vehicle, and $2500 towards a CNG home filling station. It will be funded by a 25 cent surcharge at ONG owned CNG stations. This plan will help Oklahoman’s offset the upfront price when making the switch to a CNG powered vehicle. This is a win for Oklahoma and the US, as it will help the US reduce the dependency on foreign oil.

Louisiana is also making a commitment to CNG. They now have 45 CNG powered government vehicles in Lafayette. They are also committed to increasing the fleet to 110 CNG vehicles in the next three years. The funding provided by the state Department of Natural Resources helped cover the cost of the vehicles, and also a CNG fueling station. Some examples of the CNG fleet include 20 police department vehicles and 5 CNG powered buses.

Aqua America Inc. is also making a commitment to CNG. They are going to start transitioning some their large vehicle fleet to CNG. They plan to start with 20 CNG powered dump trucks and 60 vans.

In other news the ALMS is exploring the use of natural gas to power race cars. They will be testing these vehicles in 2013. More details here:

http://www.alms.com/articles/alms-exploring-natural-gas-pc-class

Quantum Fuel Systems, one of the leader’s in natural gas vehicle technology, recently secured $2.8 million in new orders for their CNG storage tanks. Brian Olson, the CEO at Quantum Fuel Systems said: “These new orders are another strong endorsement of Quantum’s technology and products for natural gas vehicles, and reflect a significant opportunity in an attractive market segment. Natural gas vehicles with Quantum’s
light-weight storage systems help to lower ownership and operational costs, while truly benefiting from the historically low prices of this domestically produced, clean fuel.”

Check back soon for the latest CNG News updates.

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It’s great to see state’s like Pennsylvania promoting CNG vehicles. A new Act in Pennsylvania will provide $20 million in grants towards purchasing or converting to a CNG vehicle. The grant money is for non-profit organizations, local government, and state universities.

Harrison County in Texas is looking to replace existing dump trucks with larger CNG powered dump trucks. These larger CNG powered dump trucks will do the same work as the two of their smaller diesel dump trucks at half the fuel cost. With the EPA grant the new trucks will cost the same as the existing diesel trucks.

A US government lab recently switched their research focus from electric vehicles to CNG vehicles. They are looking for ways to tap into the huge natural gas surplus in the US. Natural gas vehicles emit fewer emissions than gasoline powered vehicles. Electric powered vehicles emit no emissions, however, they are charged by the electrical grid powered by fossil fuels.

TravelCenters of America and Shell recently agreed to add 200 natural gas fueling stations along US highways. Shell will construct the stations and TA will operate these stations. These stations will start showing up in 2013.

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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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One of the reasons often stated as to why CNG vehicles are not gaining popularity quicker is because of the lack of CNG fueling stations. However, more and more stations are opening every day. For example, the first public CNG Station recently opened in Shreveport, Louisiana. Louisiana is setting a good example to the whole nation by making CNG’s economic benefits more pronounced through their continued use. Shreveport’s first public compressed natural gas pumping station is located at 6828 Pines Road. This was made possible by Time-It Lube that partnered up with Chesapeake Energy Corporation, which funded the natural gas station in Bossier City. With the continuous increase in gas prices today as compared to the $1.75 a gasoline gallon equivalent of CNG, it is no surprise that natural gas vehicle fuel consumption has been increasing yearly.

On the corporate side, Quantum recently announced that they have received over $700,000 in orders. Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc., has been a global leader in natural gas, as well as, hydrogen and hybrid electric vehicles today. Being a fully integrated alternative energy company, they are one of the leaders for the development and production of storage systems for alternative fuel vehicles. True to this, they have announced receiving more than $700,000 additional purchase orders for their ultra-light weight composite high pressure compressed natural gas (CNG) storage tanks. These are the type most commonly used by heavy duty and light duty fleet vehicles. The most probable reason for this suddenly high demand is the realization of many corporations of the great benefits of natural gas vehicles. Not only does it offer low prices, they also help the environment.

Another company leading the way is Peterbilt. Peterbilt Motors Company is one of the companies that offers a growing lineup of natural gas vehicles with their combination of industry leading design, innovative engineering, and fuel-efficiency solutions. Recently, the Mid-America Trucking Show was held in Louisville, Kentucky where they showcased two of their vehicles that are both cost efficient and environmental friendly. Their current lineup includes six various models for over-the-road, heavy haul, and regional and vocational applications. One of their released models even received EPA’s SmartWay Designation. In addition, Peterbilt has alternative fuel configurations that include liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) for some of their vehicles.

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Picture by Flavio Takemoto

For those new to CNG or Compressed Natural Gas, it is a form of natural gas that undergoes high levels of pressure. It comes mainly from organisms that produce methane as part of their natural metabolic processes and organic material under the Earth.

CNG is beneficial for many reasons. CNG is more environment friendly than gasoline and diesel. It only emits carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide in very small percentages. This helps slow down the greenhouse effect, or what is more commonly known as global warming.

Another benefit is that CNG powered vehicles can overtake gasoline and diesel powered vehicles when it comes to speed and acceleration. Because CNG has higher octane content than regular gasoline, engines that use CNG tend to have better performance.

In addition, the White House has been pushing for the use of CNG powered vehicles by proposing higher tax credits, a project that is worth one billion dollars called National Community Deployment Challenge. President Obama announced in one of his speeches that the White House will give tax incentives to families who purchase natural gas powered vehicles or electric powered vehicles. The White House encourages any means that will help the environment and discourage the use of imported oil.

The White House proposed increasing tax credits from $7,500 to $10,000 for those who will be using natural gas or electric powered vehicles. This will help businesses which are starting to convert their fleets to CNG and electric powered vehicles. They can utilize this extra money to buy even more CNG or electric powered units. President Obama also mentioned that the tax credit must be available at the time that the consumer buys the vehicle and not only upon paying their taxes.

Lastly, the one billion dollar National Community Deployment Challenge aims to benefit ten to fifteen lucky communities. The money that will be awarded will allow the communities to increase their investment on natural gas and electric powered vehicles. They may also use the money to invent and create advanced vehicles.

Despite all the advantages of natural gas over gasoline, CNG powered vehicles are still not very popular among US consumers. One of the reasons is the very few number of refueling stations. Also, currently, there is only one CNG powered automobile being sold new in the US – the CNG powered Honda Civic. Lastly, some environmentalists are skeptical about using CNG because of the dispute on how the natural gas will be pulled out from the ground, which may also have its own environmental repercussions.

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According to Pickens, the use of CNG-powered vehicles will help solve the oil addiction in the US. He also mentioned that the supply of natural gas in the US is three times greater than Saudi Arabia’s oil supply. If all the natural gas reserves are utilized to run vehicles, it will greatly reduce the dependency of foreign oil.

The Natural Gas Act is T. Boone Pickens’ plan as to how the US can be less reliant on importing oil from foreign countries. The Act which is sponsored by Congressman John Sullivan and Congressman Dan Boren promotes the use of natural gas as the best alternative to gasoline and diesel.

In order to encourage people and businesses to switch to natural gas powered vehicles, it was proposed that significant tax incentives must be given to natural gas users. The authors and sponsors of the act reiterate that using natural gas as a substitute for imported gasoline and diesel will not only help preserve the environment but will also help stimulate the US economy.

The Act proposes to convert most, if not all, 18-wheeler and other heavy duty vehicles into natural gas within a five or seven year period. In this way, the US will be able to save substantial amounts of money due to the cheaper cost of natural gas. The Natural Gas Act also proposed that the US government should lend the natural gas market a hand through subsidies.

Not everyone is on board with the Natural Gas Act. The Wall Street Journal and the Club for Growth opposes the Natural Gas Act that is endorsed by T. Boone Pickens. The Wall Street Journal argues that the debate is still out if our future cars will be ran on natural gas, batteries, or hybrids.

In other news, companies like Southwestern Energy’s, continue to promote the use of CNG Vehicles. The company has given away twenty one CNG-powered vehicles to some of its lucky employees. The company advocates and advises the public on the benefits of switching to CNG-powered vehicles. By the end of the year, the company commits that more than twenty percent of their pickup trucks and other vehicles will be running on natural gas. In addition, to show their full commitment to CNG, they have invested in three CNG refueling stations scattered around the state of Arkansas.

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One such company committed to the conversion to CNG is Waste Management (WM). WM committed to convert eighty percent of its fleet into CNG-powered engines for the next couple of years. Also, they committed to have fifty CNG fueling stations all-over the US and Canada before the end of 2012.

Investing in CNG powered vehicles has been the trend for many companies in the US for the past few years. Many companies are encouraged to switch to CNG vehicles because of its many benefits including safety and cheaper costs without affecting performance in any way.

One of the companies eager to invest in CNG vehicles is TFC Recycling based in Virginia. They have recently added five CNG vehicles to their fleet making them the company with the most number of CNG vehicles in Virginia.

Also, Central Freight Lines from Texas will be testing 15 CNG powered vehicles for their delivery services. The success of this test may lead to more carrier companies converting to the more environment friendly CNG powered vehicle.

On the Conversion front NGV Motori, a leading CNG technology company and systems developer for more than 30 years, joined forces with CVS, a company with expertise in CNG vehicle and fueling solutions. They have created a diesel to CNG conversion package for the Mercedes 906 Engine. The conversion can be performed on any of the 2003 to 2009 model year Diesel MBE 900 series with the F 65 Detroit Diesel.

This collaboration, experts say, may lead to the inevitable expansion of light-duty as well as heavy-duty CNG powered markets in the US. The two companies are currently developing another conversion package for the E350 Super Duty 5.4L gas engine and Ford E 450 V10 engine – Super Duty 6.8L.

AT&T, a multinational telecommunications company, took their campaign for sustainability one step further by placing an order for 1,200 Chevrolet Express CNG cargo vans.

In addition, the company is planning to invest about $565,000,000 in purchasing approximately 15,000 CNG powered vehicles that will be distributed all over the US. They are planning to do this within a ten-year period.

According to General Motors, AT&T’s purchase of 1,200 CNG powered cargo vans has been the largest CNG vehicle purchase ever. They also said that they will continue to create more CNG powered vehicles to help companies like AT&T be one step closer to their aim of sustainability.

Here is a video about these GM CNG powered cargo vans:

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Chrysler Group LLC is preparing to sell compressed natural gas powered fleet pickups later this year in the United States. Chrysler’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne, said that there is no doubt they will be selling CNG pickups, but on a limited basis initially. Chrysler is controlled by Fiat SpA who now has CNG operating engines in Europe, and promises to begin delivery of similar engines to the US by 2017. Marchionne’s said thay natural gas engines are a better option compared to electric technologies, and the additional engine cost is much less for CNG.

In the United States large CNG powered vehicles , like buses and garbage trucks, continue to grow, but cars are not catching on as quickly. The Honda Civic NG is still the only natural gas car that is commercially produced. Natural gas stations are still limited to certain areas, but more and more are popping up each day. There is an estimated 12.7 million vehicles powered by natural gas in the world, and only 112,000 in the US. The US has lots of natural gas available with records supplies, so it makes sense to switch more vehicles to CNG and reduce the dependency on foreign oil. But the higher sticker price and cost to convert to CNG seems to be holding people back.

CNG vehicles are also gaining momentum outside the US. Tata motors in India has revealed the CNG powered Tata Nano, and the compressed natural gas MAGIC IRIS CNG at the Auto Expo 2012. Tata said the Nano exhibits the company’s ability to produce all kinds of automobiles powered by CNG. The Nano includes smart switching between CNG and gasoline, and includes safety software with automatic shut off. The Tata Magic Iris is an eco-friendly van with a 611 cc water cooled CNG engine with 12.8 HP. The Magic can seat up to 5 passengers.

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Each week more and more cities are switching to CNG powered buses. It’s time to go green for L.A. Keeping up the eco-friendly commitment, Los Angeles announced the addition of a fleet of buses that will run on compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of diesel. The buses feature 49 seats instead of the usual 43, and also provide easy access to handicapped people. Within the next three years around ninety five CNG buses are to hit the town with a guarantee to deliver a whole new level of bus transportation experience. Passengers will enjoy features like overhead storage capacity, smoother ride, reading lights, and air vents on all the seats.

Southern California Gas Co. plans to launch 1000 natural gas-powered trucks within the next five years. Natural gas vehicles are becoming are more popular every day due to the sky rocketing prices of gasoline, plus they are better for the environment. This utility company is planning to purchase these trucks from manufacturers of original equipments, as well as custom-built vehicles from local companies. SoCalGas already has 1000 natural gas-powered vehicles, and is increasing it’s efforts to bring in more eco-friendly vehicles. Besides being cost effective these vehicles release less carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and less carbon monoxide, which helps keep the environment cleaner.

The use of CNG vehicles is increasing rapidly all over the world due to issues like high CO2 emissions, rising prices of fuel, and scarcity of oil compared to natural gas. The global market is welcoming the emergence of CNG vehicles, which is currently estimated to be about 13 million vehicles worldwide. Besides the significant reduction of harmful gases, natural gas technology is proving to be very clean and cost effective as well. The global sales of natural gas vehicles is likely to rise in the coming years because of the abundance of natural gas and reduced rates compared to gasoline. Natural gas in transportation vehicles is the solution for today and the future.

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