Title: Industry Fuels Up for Environmental, Economic Benefits of Natural Gas
Abstract: This article describes some of the latest examples of transit agencies' use of natural gas as an alternative to diesel for their buses. It can come in the form of compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) or a hybrid blend of natural gas and hydrogen (HCNG). The advantage environmentally is that natural gas produces 49 percent power nitrogen oxide emissions and 84 percent lower particulate matter emissions than diesel burned in model year 2004 engines. With the rising price of petroleum, there is a growing advantage in cost, especially future costs, and availability. CNG taps into the existing pipeline structure. LNG is used where the pipeline is not available or not of sufficient volume. The CNG is frozen and shipped to the user, where it is then re-vaporized into CNG. Waste hydrogen is being used to supplement NG, and facilities are now capable to producing flexible blends, ranging from 100 percent CNG to 100 percent hydrogen. A key concern is fueling infrastructure, which can be fine tuned to reduce complexity of fueling and the time required to get a bus on the road. Grant opportunities exist to help agencies pay for the up-front investment in fueling stations, or fueling agreements can include costs on a long-term payback schedule. Often public agencies team with private companies to get the best and newest technology.
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-05-01
Language: en
Type: article
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