CNG Is AFFORDABLE

Compressed natural gas (CNG) is an affordable alternative when compared to gasoline or diesel fuel. CNG can cut fuel costs by about 50% while delivering the same power and performance. In addition, with fuel emissions standards rising in cities, more fleet organizations are seeing the value natural gas can add to their budgets.

Second quarter prices for 2008 show a national average of $4.05 for regular gas (Energy Information Administration) and $2.04 for CNG (U.S. Dept. of Energy) – resulting in an average savings of $2.01 per gasoline gallon equivalent. In Utah, for example, Honda Civic GX owners can refuel for just 85¢ gallon per gasoline equivalent (gge), compared with the $4.33 some drivers are paying for regular gasoline.*  That translates into a 2.1¢ per-mile fuel CNG cost vs. a 10.8¢ per-mile gasoline cost – a savings that amounts to $626.40 per year for a driver who commutes 30 miles a day.

*Sources: cngprices.com and utahgasprices.com, Aug. 2008.

Meanwhile, record U.S. natural gas production – a new landmark study shows supply far exceeds government forecasts – and storage levels assure reasonable prices for the foreseeable future. In the past five years, natural gas prices are up less than many other commodities.

And because the cost of energy can’t be measured without including the cost of eliminating pollution, CNG comes out a clear winner here, too. CNG pollutes up to 90% less**, which makes it a bargain; a bargain that beats even plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles that require more power generation from utilities.

CNG Is Clean

Natural gas vehicles can have a direct, positive impact on America’s air quality and environment – today. NGVs in urban environments are a solution for meeting EPA non-attainment measures and improving local air quality.

Emissions Reduction in Real Numbers

Natural gas vehicles improve air quality through the following dramatic reductions in emissions:

• Reduces carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 20%-30%
• Reduces carbon monoxide (CO) emissions by 70%-90%
• Reduces nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 75%-95%
• Reduction of up to 90% of particle matter (PM) emissions
• Reduces volatile organic compound (VOCs) emissions by 89%

Natural Gas Is AMERICAN

Natural gas vehicles (NVG) can reduce America’s foreign oil dependency. NGVs, using America’s vast abundance of domestic natural gas, are our best answer for reducing foreign oil dependence and increasing energy and national security.

Almost all of the natural gas we use comes from right here in North America. Conversely, 60% of the oil we use is imported.

We export about $1.7 billion a day to pay for foreign oil, adding to our trade deficit and weakening the dollar. By using domestic natural gas, we strengthen both our nation’s economy and energy security — keeping jobs and revenues at home.

The simple truth about America’s foreign oil.

• America imports nearly 70% of the petroleum it uses.¹
• The 14.3 million barrels per day of oil utilized by the U.S. transportation sector exceeds the total oil consumption of any other single country in the world.²
• State-controlled national oil companies (NOCs) hold most of the world’s oil and gas reserves. The six largest NOCs have 10 times the reserves of the top six privately owned companies, at least 75%. And by some estimates as much as 90% of all oil and natural gas reserves are held by national oil companies that are either partially or fully controlled by sovereign governments – which often do not have the same incentives as profit-maximizing firms to supply oil to the market.³
• Replacing 3.5 million heavy-duty vehicles with natural gas vehicles by 2035 would save more than 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, which is more than we imported from either Venezuela or Saudi Arabia in 2009.⁴
• With a transportation system fueled by diverse and secure energy supplies, the United States can fundamentally reduce its dangerous dependence on a global oil market that is shaped by cartel economics and foreign political agendas.⁵

American energy dollars better spent

In February 2010, the U.S. spent $24.6 billion on imported oil.⁶ If not burdened by this addiction, what could our country have done?

• We could have hired over 364,000 new teachers.
• We could have funded highway repairs for nearly 7 years.
• We could have built 32,407 new elementary schools.

Natural Gas Is ABUNDANT

Vast new natural gas resources are being discovered across North America. In the past five years, shale reservoirs have revealed natural gas deposits that doubled previous estimated U.S. gas reserves - giving  us close to a 200-year supply. And as large reserves are developed that previously weren’t possible to produce, that supply is growing. It’s vital because many experts agree that global oil production has peaked, even as demand is still rising. Because of its growing abundance, domestic natural gas will play a major role in meeting our 21st-century energy needs.

“The assessments and estimates on natural gas supply are very impressive and have, frankly, caught industry forecasters off guard,” shared Rick Smead, one of the study’s co-authors and overall project manager for Navigant Consulting Industries (NCI). The study found that while all three unconventional gas sources have increased production over the past decade, natural gas production from shale formations is growing exponentially, increasing from less than a billion cubic feet a day in 1998, to about 5 billion cubic feet a day now. That’s a compound annual rate of growth of over 20%, which is over 600% for the time period.

“The extent of this ramp-up has not been fully captured by many reserve estimators,” said Smead, “probably because their emergence has been too rapid for existing models to capture accurately.”

There are at least 22 shale basins located onshore in more than 20 states in the U.S. including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, West Virginia, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan.

New technologies have allowed the rapid emergence of gas-producing shales as a major energy source, representing a truly transformative event for U.S. energy supplies. American producers can clearly supply enough natural gas to meet today’s uses and become an economical source of transportation fuel in the form of CNG or greater supplies of electricity for plug-in hybrids for generations to come.