Movement toward natural gas-fueled vehicles finally appears to be firing on all cylinders.
The surge in U.S. natural gas production from prolific shale formations has created an abundance of the blue-burning fuel.
Middle East turmoil and a recovering global economy are putting energy security and high gasoline prices front-and-center in consumer minds.
Legislative efforts to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are mired in partisan bickering.
And President Barack Obama provided a timely rallying point in a speech this week, giving a positive nod to government incentives for natural gas vehicles as alternatives to ones powered by higher-emission, oil-based fuels.
Next week a bipartisan group in Congress plans to introduce the “New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions” (NAT GAS) Act, which will offer tax credits to promote production and purchase of natural gas vehicles.
Texas lawmakers have proposed a bill to encourage the build-out of compressed natural gas stations along the “Texas Triangle” linking Houston, San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth. It would be funded through the existing Texas Emissions Reduction Plan, which draws from fees tacked on some vehicle titles, commercial vehicle inspections and other sources.
The City of Houston and oil and gas producer Apache Corp. today will announce a smaller effort closer to home — a $1.5 million compressed natural gas station at Bush Intercontinental Airport. It will fuel a fleet of gas shuttle buses to run between the city’s economy parking lot and the terminals.
25% lower CO2
The deal encapsulates many of the benefits of compressed natural gas vehicles that proponents have been touting – lower emissions from the fleet of 30 buses that cover a combined 900,000 miles per year, as well as lower fuel and maintenance costs.
Compressed natural gas vehicles get about 20 percent lower fuel mileage than diesel engines, according to Bernstein Research, but carbon dioxide emissions are about 25 percent less and smog-producing emissions up to 90 percent lower.
And while diesel now averages around $3.79 a gallon in Houston, a comparable amount of compressed natural gas costs $1.70 to $1.90.
Compressed natural gas vehicles also tend to have lower maintenance costs.
Apache will build the fueling terminal and donate it to the city. It will be operated by New South Parking, the contractor that runs the city economy lot – which will be rebranded as Ecopark.
Apache CEO Steve Farris doesn’t expect natural gas vehicles to replace all gasoline and diesel vehicles, but to be part of a wide range of solutions.
“It’s the biggest no-brainer for the American public today,” Farris said in an interview Thursday. “It’s cheaper, it’s cleaner, it’s more abundant and it’s in our own backyard.”
About 11.4 million natural gas vehicles operate worldwide, representing about 1.1 percent of all vehicles, according to Bernstein Research. That’s up from just 0.17 percent a decade ago. Combined, these vehicles consume about 1 trillion cubic feet of gas per day, 1 percent of global gas consumption.
Only about 122,000 are in North America, while Pakistan leads the world with about 2.3 million, according to the International Association of Natural Gas Vehicles.
While cost, emissions and availability of the fuel are part of the reason for gas vehicles’ success abroad, they also aren’t competing with an existing gasoline vehicle infrastructure like the U.S. has built up over many decades.
Some critics point to the difficultly of trying to build out a nationwide natural gas infrastructure, but Farris noted the U.S. already has the most extensive network of natural gas pipelines in the world.
Lowest-hanging fruit
And use of natural gas vehicles can expand in the U.S. without drawing in individual consumers.
The Houston airport project is an example of the lowest-hanging fruit – government- or company-owned fleets of heavy vehicles, such as buses and garbage trucks, that operate in well-defined routes or regions.
Houston-based Waste Management makes extensive use of compressed natural gas for its garbage trucks nationwide, while a number of airport bus systems have converted to natural gas.
Apache’s Farris, however, is bullish on compressed natural gas vehicles reaching a broader segment of the American driving public.
“Unless you find a way to turn the water into wine, we’ll be using CNG for passenger cars,” Farris said. “It can just be so significant for American economic and energy security.”
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- Mayor Annise Parker, center, walks with Mario Diaz, director of Aviation Houston Airport System, left, and G. Steven Farris, chairman and chief executive officer at Apache, right, after looking at the new airport parking lot shuttles that run on natural gas at City Hall on Friday, April 1, 2011, in Houston. (Photo: Cody Duty/Houston Chronicle)
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- Houston Mayor Annise Parker addresses the city’s plan to run airport shuttles on natural gas at a press conference at City Hall on Friday, April 1, 2011. (Photo: Cody Duty/Houston Chronicle)
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- Mayor Annise Parker, center, speaks with Mario Diaz, director of Aviation Houston Airport System, left, and G. Steven Farris, chairman and chief executive officer at Apache, right, before a news conference at City Hall on Friday, April 1, 2011, announcing the city and Apache’s plans to run airport parking lot shuttles on natural gas, using fueling facilities provided by Apache. (Photo: Cody Duty/Houston Chronicle)
Old technology, really old news, but still a very good idea, and long overdue. I peronally used Propane, same basic idea, over 70 years ago in farm and personal vehicles, used it in my personal pickup until a very few years ago. Worked for companies in the Rockies that had 100% natural gas vehicles, hooked them up at night to a common manifold to refill. Compressor engines in the Patch have run on natural gas since Day One. The Company I retired from used natural gas automobiles at Corporate in Houston, the only disadvantage was no where to refill except at our own facilities, and lack of trunk space. I hope it catches on (again) and I would convert back in a heartbeat. One thing that is bad about it is the gouging for the conversion kits, and if you don’t think natural gas prices “at the pump” will jump up there to gasoline prices, I have some beach property in Arizona to sell you.
Infrastructure? A large chunk of residential homes have natural gas service. Developing cheap, compact compressors to refill in your garage can make the service station visit a thing of the past for a large chunk of Americans.
Squarehead nailed it! Wait until the infrastructure is in place and see what the price of natural gas does! The oil companies control it and when demand goes up, so will the price. The referenced $1.70 to $1.90 price will easily double. And although the US has an overabundance of natural gas, it will be sold at the world market price (read all that can be had for a gallon) the oil companies will trade it on the world market. In effect, our cheap local natural gas will become a world commodity. Again, the consumer will see little to no relief. It’s environmental advantage will also demand a higher price.
Where are the investment dollars going to come from for natural gas infrastructure? As conventional oil extraction declines due to depleted fields and lack of finding enough new fields to exploit the economy will continue to contract. How much natural gas really is there to be extracted at a price point that can be afforded?
And just like Ethanol, how what good will it do, if it is not readily available (refill facilities)? Sure am glad I bought a flex fuel vehicle for ethanol, when there is but only one or two places that sell it, in my area. Also, you can FORGET about it when you leave Houston. That is, until you reach the other “ONE” place to get it in San Antonio. Maybe another in Dallas if you go that far…..
@jake38 Estimates range somewhere between 1,500-2,500 trillion-cubic-feet for both proven and unproven reserves…which is a lot. In the near future, the cost will not be as big a factor as availability. If imports of oil are cut off, we can at least run our tractors and combines on CNG to grow food.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to install a tram/train? We know that the buses simply loop back and forth between the parking and the airport….. what a waste…….
All MTA vehicles should be converted to CNG within the next 5 years. Any new non-emergency, road vehicle bought by the State of Texas, Harris county and City of Houston should be either bi-fueled CNG/ Gasoline or CNG/ Diesel or LNG/ Diesel. In 10 years no, gasoline or diesel non-emergency, road vehicle should be owned and operated by these government organizations.In ten years we should step up the taxes by 25% on any of these vehicles owned by the public, except limited travel antiques. God Bless Texas
@Bart – Natural gas will not be sold at a world market price because there is no worldwide market for gas, nor will there ever be. Unlike oil, natural gas can’t just be loaded onto a tanker and shipped across oceans. Unless it is converted to LNG (which requires expensive infrastructure), the natural gas market is only as large as the reach of the pipeline network and is thus very local. I do think that prices would go up if demand increases from an increase in the use of CNG as a transportation fuel, but there is just so much natural gas in North America that the increase wouldn’t be so dramatic.
Canada promoted CNG ~25 years ago. They hoped to have 5% of al vehicels in Canada running on natural gas. (Interestingly, this occurred before the Kyoto Accord, and before oil prices rose so high that it became economical to mine the Alberta-Saskatchewan Oil Sands.)
I bought a 1990 Chrysler minivan and immediately converted it to dual-fuel CNG/gasoline. There were subsidies provided by Canada, Ontario province & Consumers Gas, which equalled ~66%. The net cost paid for itself in ~6 mos. of driving ~15,000km [~9,000mi] Obviously, the difference in price occurred because the Federal & Provincial gov’ts charged no taxes on CNG.
I calculated that I saved ~$1,000/yr in the 19 years I owned that vehicle: slightly better mileage (CNG vs gasoline), fewer oil & spark plug changes, longer-lasting muffler, etc. I’d own another one today, except that we down-sized to a Honda Civic, and one needs a larger-sized vehicle (pickup, minvan, SUV) in order to install the somewhat large CNG cylindre. I got ~160km [100mi] per refill, and then switch over to gasoline if I weren’t near an NGV refuelling station.
They even had a Vehicle Refuelling Appliance [VRA] compressor to refill cars overnight at home. The home cost of natural gas ($.29 /Litre) was lower than that charged at gasoline stations ($.59/Litre) in 1990; we now pay $1.24/L! at the pump. My calculations were that I could at least break even with the $50/mo. rental of the VRA and the lower rate, but I discovered that my home was on a rural, low-pressure field with century-old valves where natural gas was first discovered & used in Ontario. If the VRA started compressing gas into my minivan, it would have shut off pilot lights in my neighbours’ homes. No VRA for me.
The original infrastructure cost obviously came from Consumers Gas & other natural gas companies who would make the sales profits over the years.
In the past 10 years, not enough people have converted their vehicles in Ontario, and Consumers Gas (now Enbridge) seems to be slowly getting out of the business. When the price of natural gas mushroomed a few years ago, they shifted their focus away from NGV [Natural Gas Vehicles]. The conversion cost also increased when car engines became highly computerised, from ~$2500 to ~$4500. Wonder what will be charged in the Texas?
-w-
However, look at the new source of natural gas: fracturing shale.
Pennsylvania & New York are worried about drinking water quality, and Arkansas is worried about earthquakes. Existing rural folks in Alberta suffer from sour gas wells which threaten them with H2S poisoning. the rest of us don’t care about them – we just want the gas to flow to heat our homes!
BillyOceansEleven
The LNG market is actually developing pretty well. There still aren’t futures, just spot LNG prices, but they play a part in futures markets for nat gas. True, it’s not at oil level of trading, but don’t completely write it off.
cuLorne
Thanks for sharing that in such detail. I remember CNG vehicles in very small numbers as a kid but didn’t realize Canada had such a sizeable program.
Thanks to all for all the info.
You put a lot of thought into this.
Dual fuel and home refill. Wow!
I have a gas line at my driveway for the BBQ.
Could I fill up at home someday?
Natural gas for all truck stops in the Texas Triangle!!!!!!!!!
So just how much is the total price tag for this and will there ever be a break even or is this another government program that adds to the debt?
This is a much better step forward than the dumb idea of electric vehicles that go 80 miles and quit! Another huge step would be developing the extraction of methane hydrates that are at the bottom of the world’s oceans and in their present state only cause global warming. This resource has the potential for solving the planet’s energy problems for hundreds of years. It’s there just for the taking and nobody’s doing it!
Yes, there could be an export market for LNG, if there’s no demand for the product domestically, which currently is the case. Any good businessman would be looking for a market for his product.
If we don’t use it here, they will export. Japan will be huge LNG customers in the future as they move to LNG for electric generation.
And they are finding these tight shale gas formations all over the world. China just completed their first horizontal drilled, hydro fraced well this week. They think they have huge nat gas tight shale reserves.
Poland is using the same technigue and has found tight shale gas.
There may not be an export market if these shales are as numerous and prolific globally as they appear to be.
The best use as a transportation fuel is in heavy trucking only, although it could be used for personal autos.
I’ve been investigating the Honda Civic CNG, it gets 24 mpg. Has an eight gallon tank, current cost on CNG is about $1.50 per gallon. My reservation at the moment, is what the resale value of the car would be in five years. I think a lease would be safer.
And the people who were making the home-fill kits, went bankrupt.
But still, I highly doubt Obama’s commitment to nat gas. Its all political fluff, he’s already running for re-election. He will do the same he’s done since elected, he will say one thing and he and his bureaucrats will do another.
If GE gets in the CNG auto business, you csn bet Barry will be all over it, throwing out subsidies like candy on Halloween.
Several cities in the 80s used CNG for their bus fleets, but went back to diesel in the mid/late 90s. I am sure their are hundreds of cost analysis studies out there.
For commuters, the thing to remember is that an engine designed exclusively for CNG, and not dual fuel or converted, will see signigicant improvement in MPG and power,as the engine will operate at a much higher compression ratio. Rousch has already been testing some CNG engines for its racing program.
Diesel hot rodders have used propane injection for years to add power and torque.
Home compressor units are easy to build, and I believe Honda already makes one, but it is overly expensive. If the market takes off, you will see several manufacturers get into that business. there is no reason for it to be anyh more than +/- $250.
Maybe programs like this will finally put the death nell to corn based ethanol. Look for ADM and other corporate farmers to lobby hard against govt sponsored CNG programs. Wouldn’t it be ironic to have a CNG powered combine and truck harvesting corn for ethanol? And a Nat gas fired distillery for the ethanol?
One other nice caveat to Nat gas….no refining. That is a huge energy savings.
If NY and PA used something besides the equivalent of stove pipe for their casing, they wouldn’t have any water issues. Just set minimum burst requirements for any casing to 8-12,000 psi and those frac / water issues will go away.
http://www.ngvc.org/
[...] Move to natural gas vehicles accelerates [...]
Well well, I see Obama officially announces he’s running for re-election , as if he did not start about three months ago.
Or except for the health care debate, did he ever quit campaigning ?
I will believe his acceptance of nat gas , when I actually see it. His primary goal is reduction of CO2 emissions, and he will only vary from that goal in word only, till he wins re-election. Then it will be full bore anti global warming energy policy.
I don’t want to distract from our nat gas discussion but……
Barry is finally getting back to the only thing he knows anything about which is running for office. We are doomed if we let this guy “lead” us 4 more years.
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