Obviously, market development is required for increased use of biomethane in the transport sector, and support in the U.S. currently lags well behind that in the EU. In an article available online, a UK Environmental Audit states that “biomethane is an almost perfect renewable transport fuel.” The audit concludes that wide adoption of CNG and biomethane for transport will deliver the greatest air quality benefits at the lowest cost, especially when compared to expensive battery powered hybrid electric vehicles.

NGV refueling stations are somewhat costly to install (though not significantly more costly than a new fossil fuel station) and are only commercially viable if they refuel a significant number of vehicles — such as a fleet. Therefore the market penetration of NGVs for personal vehicles suffers from a classic problem; fuel suppliers are reluctant to construct refueling stations until there are sufficient numbers of NGVs, and consumers are unwilling to purchase the vehicles until there are sufficient refueling stations.

How do we get past this longstanding issue? A 2011 European Commission (EC) report on smart gas grids concludes that NG fueling stations can be located near their existing natural gas grid, avoiding the need for a costly build out of new gas distribution infrastructure. A similar approach might significantly reduce the overall cost of NG fueling infrastructure development, even for geographically large countries such as the U.S. However, the U.S. would still have large NG fueling gaps in areas that are not along natural gas pipeline routes, so a focus on fueling for fleets continues to make sense economically. Locating fueling hubs near fuel feedstock supplies such as landfills and waste-water treatment facilities is likely to continue as a limiting factor for biomethane use, unless national energy policy supports NG as a transportation fuel on a long term basis.

The European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative (EIBI), is a related effort underway in the EU to accelerate commercialization of advanced sustainable bioenergy. The broadest objective of this organization is to bring sustainable energy and fuel products to market at costs competitive with fossil fuels. Biomethane is one of several paths being explored to bring cost effective renewable fuels to the market; developing coherent policy that promotes a willingness for industry to invest in alternative fuels and energy is a primary task.

Find clean fuel facts about biomethane and CNG at: firmgreen.com

Links to article sources:
UK Parliament Environmental Audit Summary (opens in new window or tab)

EC Report on Smart Gas Grids – biomethane references, pp15-16 (PDF opens in new window)

European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative (EIBI) (opens in new window or tab)

Speakers from Argonne National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory will be featured. Topics will include discussion of technologies for producing biomethane (or renewable natural gas), costs and benefits, plus opportunities for biomethane use as a transportation fuel.

Registration and more information about the webinar series is online.
click here for registration info (PDF document opens in new tab or window)

• electricity consumes over 280,473 Btu of fossil fuel per gge
• E85 ethanol produced from corn consumes about 190,869 Btu/gge
• Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) from landfill gas consumed zero Btu/gge of fossil energy

On emissions, CNG derived from landfill gas is by far the cleanest fuel. The results below are stated in grams per equivalent gallons of gasoline (gge) of the consumed fuel for emissions:

• electricity generates 23,780 grams of emissions per gge
• E85 ethanol produced from corn generates 8,009 grams of emissions per gge
• Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) from landfill gas generates 270 grams of emissions per gge

Data Source: Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model 1.8d

Find more fuel facts at: firmgreen.com

The Bad News
Gone are all the tax credits for converting a vehicle to run on CNG. This includes conversion kits and re-powering heavy trucks and equipment.

The tax credit for purchasing the equipment for a fueling station has been reduced from 50% of the investment with a $50,000 cap down to 30% of the investment with a $30,000 cap

The tax credit for purchasing home refueling equipment for private use has been reduced to $1000.

The Good News
The Federal Excise Tax Rebate for the purchase of CNG as a motor vehicle fuel is back. At the end of each year a CNG fuel station owner will be able to file for a cash rebate of fifty-cents ($0.50) for each CNG gallon sold during the year. CNG is sold as “gasoline gallon equivalents” or gge. The intent of the law is to make the sales price of CNG more attractive as the station owners pass this saving on to their customers. In reality, the savings is only 31.7 cents per gallon because the CNG retailer still has to remit the Federal Road Use Tax called Federal Excise Tax. The Excise Tax has to be paid twice a month on every gallon sold except for CNG sold to cities, states, school systems, and some other non-profit organizations.

Read the rest of the commentary at firmgreen.com

CNG is a cost-effective fueling choice for heavy-duty commercial vehicles also. A study performed for the California Air Resurces Board (CARB) analyzes costs of 2010 heavy-duty diesel and natural gas technologies, using a life-cycle cost model. The financial model predicts that the break-even points for CNG for a refuse hauler, transit bus, and short haul heavy-duty truck are $22 barrel, $31 per barrel, and $28 per barrel of crude oil, respectively, in 2010 world oil prices. The detailed report developed by TIAX, LLC, is available to review online at the their website:
View the cost comparison report (pdf opens in new window)

We certainly appreciate Littlefair mentioning that biomethane reduces vehicle carbon emissions up to 88% on a well-to-wheels basis!

Click here to read the full letter
Click here to read the Exxon CEO interview

After our tour we discovered that the trailer wiring we had installed in Ohio was not going to work with the DyneTek/TGT CNG trailer we had come to pick up from Tulsa Gas. Tom graciously offered to have his staff correct the problem for us. TGT staff went to work on our wiring problem. This rewiring turned into a bigger job than any of us expected but the TGT staff stayed with it and by 1700 hours we were hooking up to the CNG trailer and topping off our fuel tanks. All day long Tom and his staff were exceedingly accommodating to us and even provided us with a courtesy car so that we could ride into town for lunch. I can’t say enough about the level of hospitality that was extended to us by Tom and his staff. This is a great bunch of folks. After making final preparations, and saying our goodbyes, we were finally back on the road at 1830 hours.

Oklahoma City was just 100 miles to the West and we pulled into the “On Q Express” filling station to top off our fuel tanks. At this point time was not on our side but we managed to make it into El Reno, Oklahoma where we made camp for the night. Tomorrow morning we’ll continue West on I-40 into the Texas Panhandle.

Check out Google Maps as we chart the trip

UPS has deployed 245 new delivery trucks powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to cities in Colorado and California, United States.

The new CNG trucks have been deployed over the past month to Denver (140) and to four cities in California: San Ramon (18), Fresno (16), West Los Angeles (59) and Ontario (12). The vehicles are part of UPS’s continued effort to reduce its emissions from the use of fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel and lower its carbon footprint.

UPS began deploying alternative fuel vehicles in the 1930s with a fleet of electric trucks that operated in New York City . Today, UPS operates one of the largest private fleets of alternative fuel vehicles in its industry, more than 1,900 in total with these additions. Since 2000, the company’s green fleet has traveled more than 165 million miles.

Bob Stoffel, UPS senior vice president of supply chain, strategy, engineering and sustainability, said that the greening of its fleet demonstrates the effectiveness of harnessing multiple technologies and applying the right vehicles to areas where they will provide the best advantage. He added that Compressed Natural Gas continues to be a sustainable technology for UPS’s fleet because natural gas is cost effective, clean-burning and abundant.

UPS, a member of the EPA Climate Leaders, first deployed CNG-powered delivery trucks in the 1980s. At the time, UPS purchased traditional gas- or diesel-driven vehicles and converted them to run on compressed gas. The 245 trucks deployed over the past month were built from scratch as CNG vehicles. They join more than 900 CNG vehicles already in use by UPS worldwide.

The CNG truck bodies are identical externally to the signature-brown trucks that comprise the UPS fleet. Marked with decals as CNG vehicles, the trucks are expected to yield a 15 percent emissions reduction over the cleanest diesel engines available in the market today. More information at: usagasvehicles.com

AT&T Plans to Deploy 8,000 NGVs

Natural gas vehicles are popular in markets around the world, with major automakers like Fiat and Volkswagen producing gaseous fuel vehicles to fit a variety of needs. Unfortunately for U.S. consumers, major automakers here have been absent from the light-duty natural gas vehicle market since the early 1990s. Today, the Honda NGX is the only production vehicle available stateside that operates on natural gas. Customers – mostly fleets operated by companies such as AT&T – opting for this alternative fuel must turn to specialty companies that can provide appropriate light-, medium-, and heavy-duty natural gas products for transit use ranging from shuttle buses and limousines to delivery vans and taxis.

AT&T announced their alternative fuel vehicle program in 2009. As part of AT&T’s program to deploy more than 15,000 alternative-fuel vehicles over the next five years – with some 8,000 of these expected to be natural gas – BAF Technologies has become a major part of this alternative fuel program.

BAF is the leading provider of natural gas vehicle systems and conversions in the United States. Recently acquired by Clean Energy Fuels (Nasdaq: CLNE), BAF is well positioned to churn out natural gas vehicles. Through AT&T, BAF is planning to convert a total of 1,850 Ford E-Series vans to compressed natural gas in 2010. This follows an initial conversion of 600 E-250 vans to natural gas as part of a 2009 contract with AT&T. BAF is also exploring additional conversions of other vehicle types, including Ford F-Series trucks, which could be made available through its national dealer network.
More information can be found at: BAFtechnologies.com and att.com

The ambulance is based at Fire Station 71, located at Portola Avenue and Country Club Drive, because it responds to around 200 ambulance calls per month, according to David Hermann, a spokesman for the city.

Compressed natural gas, which is produced domestically, burns much cleaner than gasoline or diesel fuel, according to BAF Technologies, which develops natural gas-powered vehicles.

Because CNG-powered ambulances did not exist in the United States, city staff investigated whether one could be built, Hermann said.

A committee comprised of city representatives, industry experts and officials from the Riverside County Fire Department studied the option and decided it would be the most efficient to create a CNG unit by modifying existing ambulance parts.

The city purchased the equipment and Frazer Ambulance, a Texas-based company, and BAF Technologies converted the ambulance to use compressed natural gas, Herman said.

The companies built the vehicle over a six-month period in Texas, according to Hermann.
In December, the ambulance was brought to Palm Desert, where final changes were made to the vehicle.

The ambulance was purchased with money from city funds dedicated for firefighting and public safety, according to Hermann, who added that the city has applied to federal grants to cut down the cost.