If You Build it They Will Come: Natural Gas Fueling Infrastructure in North America

By Kate Kalnin

As the demand for natural gas vehicles (NGVs) grows in everything from passenger cars to rail, so does the need for the supporting refueling infrastructure. In North America, the natural gas fueling landscape is expanding to accommodate the some 137,205 and growing NGVs on Canadian and American highways (NGV Global 2011).

Data based on information collected from the Transportation Energy Data Book:  http://cta.ornl.gov/data/index.shtml

NGV owners have increasing options for fueling their vehicles including public and private compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) stations, depot-based stations with slow-fill options and at-home refueling appliances that attach to a homeowner’s natural gas line.

According to the Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance (CNGVA), Canada currently has about 40 public CNG fueling stations and a small handful of public LNG stations from B.C. to Quebec. According to the Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Centre, (DOE), the U.S. currently has approximately 602 public CNG stations and 33 public LNG stations.

The total number (about 675) of public natural gas fueling stations across Canada and the U.S. doesn’t include the number of private depot-based refueling stations used by fleets, government vehicles and heavy-duty truck owners. With these, industry organizations estimate 1,311 for both private and public CNG and LNG stations across the two countries. These numbers may seem small in comparison to the upwards of 150,000 gasoline stations across the U.S. alone, but it’s the rate at which natural gas stations are popping up that’s impressive.

A few of the industry leaders are working to propel the development of new fueling infrastructure in response to the significant rise in NGV adoption.

Public Relations Manager at Clean Energy Fuels Patric Rayburn says refuse, transit and airport/shuttle fleets have been the largest adopters of natural gas fuel for transportation and the heavy-duty trucking sector is now gaining momentum in its transition to the fuel.

“In June 2007 the 9 L natural gas engine was introduced; in 2008 approximately 3 percent of new refuse trucks purchased were fueled by natural gas. In 2013 that number is north of 60 percent. Such significant adoption was driven by the fact that owners saw significant fuel savings which resulted in compelling payback times on their natural gas fleet investment.”

Though Clean Energy’s focus is in fleet vehicles, Patric comments that the availability of the right sized engines for each of the transportation sectors is a key for wider vehicle adoption. “Ford’s launch of the F-150 featuring the Westport WiNG™ Power System is a vote of confidence for natural gas as a transportation fuel.”

Clean Energy's Natural Gas Highway. 

Clean Energy owns many of America’s current natural gas fueling stations and is building what it calls “America’s Natural Gas Highway” (ANGH) to make goods movement fueled by natural gas possible from coast to coast and boarder to boarder throughout the United States. Many of

these stations are located at Pilot-Flying J locations and with the first phase of ANGH completed in 2012, their aim was achieved.

“Last year we built 70 new ANGH stations and we plan to build another 30 to 50 stations by the end of 2013. We’re ready to support heavy-duty trucking’s continued transition to cleaner and cheaper natural gas,” Patric added.

To ensure there is a sufficient LNG supply for the new stations, Clean Energy operates two existing LNG plants and is purchasing two natural gas liquefaction plants from General Electric Oil and Gas (GE) featuring its Micro LNG technology; these are slated to come online in 2015.

Other LNG expansion projects include Blu LNG’s target to build at least 50 LNG fueling stations for trucks across the U.S. Shell and TravelCenters of America LLC’s (TA) have also announced they are working together to construct at least two LNG fueling lanes at up to 100 of their existing stations across the U.S.

CNG’s presence at American fuel retailers is also growing thanks to GE and Chesapeake Energy’s 2012 announcement to build more than 250 CNG fueling units aptly named, “CNG In A Box”. The eight foot by 20 foot plug-and-play style containers are designed to simplify and expedite the fueling process for both retailers and NGV owners. The units can be set up wherever there is a natural gas pipeline as they come ready to go with all of the necessary compressors, motors and dispensers.

To enhance the convenience of owning a natural gas vehicle, GE along with companies such as Eaton Corporation and BRC FuelMaker, maker of the “Phill” home fueling device, are working to improve the design and affordability of at-home fueling appliances with target prices around $500. The appliances connect to the homeowner’s natural gas line and power outlet and can be left overnight to fill a vehicle with CNG.

The companies’ efforts are backed in part by varying funding from the U.S. Department of Energy as it pushes to make the transition to natural gas vehicles more appealing.

Canada’s natural gas fueling landscape saw progress in March 2013 when Shell Canada and Flying J opened Canada’s first public LNG refueling station in Calgary. The station’s LNG supply will come from a Shell production facility west of Calgary. By the end of 2013, Shell aims to have this facility supply the first three public LNG Shell Flying J LNG truck stops in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton.

From peppering major freight trucking corridors with LNG stations to developing domestic CNG fueling appliances, the growing prevalence of fueling options is tackling one of the main hurdles that’s been delaying the adoption of NGV’s from consumers and fleet owners alike.

For more information on natural gas station locations check out:
(U.S. map) http://maps.nrel.gov/biomass
(Canadian map) http://www.gowithnaturalgas.ca/operating-with-natural-gas/stations/public-refueling-stations/

Natural gas organizations bring bi-fuel passenger vehicles closer to “Here and Now”

By Kate Kalnin

A campaign backed by America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) and the American Gas Association (AGA) has set out to offer more options to consumers looking for natural gas powered passenger vehicles.

The Drive Natural Gas initiative and its “Add Natural Gas” campaign promote just that - the concept of being able to choose to “add natural gas” when purchasing a new car.

From Left to Right: 2012 Honda CR-V EX 2WD, 2012, 2012 BMW X3 XDrive, 2012 GMC Acadia Denali
Photo Credit: Gladstein, Neandross & Associates

In partnership with brands such as Honda, GM, BMW, Ford and Hyundai, Add Natural Gas is showing people that this plentiful resource as a transportation fuel has potential for more than just fleets and heavy duty trucks.

Kathryn Clay, Executive Director of the Drive Natural Gas campaign explains some of the “driving” motives behind the push. “Europeans currently have many options when it comes to natural gas vehicle choices and we think American consumers deserve more choices too when it comes to the fuels that power their vehicles.” Add Natural Gas is designed to show a vision to American consumers of what natural gas can be.

The campaign features bi-fuel converted vehicles from six different manufacturers. Specifically, six types of passenger vehicles ranging from a sports car to a full-size SUV. The purpose, Kathryn says, is to show the potential in both the manufacturing category and vehicle type category. 

The first three cars from left to right: 2012 Ford Mustang GT, 2012 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 2012 Chrysler 300C AWD
Photo Credit: Gladstein, Neandross & Associates

With each vehicle conversion, the engineering team focused on maintaining its stock performance specs to make it a fair comparison with the demo vehicles’ original counterparts. Something Kathryn says is of utmost importance when considering taking on this campaign.

“We made it so consumers wouldn’t have to make compromises in performance, handling, look and feel and of course storage space," she said. "We designed these vehicles so that the actual tank does not impede on the trunk space.” By maintaining the original particulars of each prototype’s gasoline-fueled equivalent, Add Natural Gas aims to dispel any suggestions of NGVs not being able to “match up.”

Aside from creating a buzz around four-wheel passenger vehicles adopting natural gas technology, the venture also supports the development of infrastructure, both on the road and at home. 

“We are seeing exciting announcements from companies like GE and Whirlpool pertaining to at-home fueling appliances,” says Kathryn. “Our vision is that those types of companies will compete and bring those prices down, making the appliances available at big box stores where people buy their TV’s and other home appliances.” At-home fueling equipment allows NGV owners to fill up using their home’s own gas line, an attractive quality while the roadside infrastructure is being expanded.

While these vehicles are only prototypes at the moment, the Add Natural Gas team says that they have high expectations for natural gas as a key transportation fuel, along with the advent of more passenger cars with corresponding bi-fuel technology.

Check out the campaign: http://www.addnaturalgas.com.