The head of Ford Motor Co. (F) said the auto industry is focused on expanding the use of engines powered by compressed natural gas, creating a potential clash with the U.S. chemical sector.
Alan Mulally, chief executive, outlined the alternative fuel technologies being pursued by Ford during a town hall meeting at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., late Wednesday, having earlier in the week flagged the high cost of batteries for all-electric cars.
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If you are in the fight against foreign oil, GM has recently announced that they will be offering a CNG option for their Silverado HD and GMC Sierra 2500 HD trucks. This is a big announcement as this is the first time GM will be building CNG option vehicles since they stopped in 2004. These trucks that have the CNG fuel option will actually be considered bi-fuel vehicle as they will be able to run on gasoline when CNG is not available. The CNG add-on for these two truck models will be priced $11,000 more than the standard gasoline trucks. While this may sound like a huge expense, let’s go over why this can more than pay for itself in a few short years and give your new truck a life not seen by any other fuel type.
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The following video is presented by the USGS and contains a very helpful and balanced discussion of the problems and opportunities associated with hydraulic fracturing.
Here is one excerpt: Continue reading
You can see the table of contents here. I read the whole issue on the plane yesterday, and it is very good. Here’s the best quote from the magazine: “Low-cost natural gas is the Viagra that’s turning the U.S. back into an industrial power” (p. 92).
The private time-fill fueling facility will support the company’s new fleet of CNG-powered trash trucks.
Waste Pro recently announced its investment of $100 million for vehicles and fueling stations to transition a portion of its fleet from diesel fuel to compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel. The investment includes planned construction by Clean Energy of natural gas fueling facilities in the South.
Development of the Waste Pro CNG station at Fort Pierce has been permitted, with opening projected for early third quarter of 2012. In Phase One of its CNG transition effort, Waste Pro expects to deploy 150 heavy-duty waste collection and recycling trucks to serve residential and commercial customers.
Read more at LNG World News.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The Obama administration tightened regulations on the oil and gas industry Wednesday, requiring drillers to capture emissions of certain air pollutants from new wells.
But in a nod to industry concerns that the rules were being enacted too quickly, the Environmental Protection Agency said companies can burn the pollutants at the well head until the start of 2015, when enough equipment is expected to be available to capture the pollution.
The administration said the regulations are part of President Obama’s promise to develop the nation’s oil and gas resources in a manner that protects the environment and the public health.
“The standards are practice, flexible, affordable and achievable,” Gina McCarthy, an assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, said on a conference call with reporters.
Read more here.
According to Forbes.com:
In December, 1999, China’s National Science and Technology Ministry (NSTM) and State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) set 10 percent as a target for clean vehicles as a portion of the overall vehicle population, and set a target of 40 to 50 percent for taxis and buses. Additionally, the policy called for the launch of clean vehicle model zones in 19 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing.
As part of this program, city governments in China have implemented policies to encourage the industrialization of CNG passenger cars, LNG heavy-duty trucks and engines, LPG engines, and direct-injection LNG engines. Measures that have been used include offering preferential gas price policies and constructing refill stations. At the end of 2010, more than 80 cities across China had gas refilling facilities and the number of CNG/LNG refill stations totaled more than 1,000. During the course of China’s 12th Five-Year Plan, it is projected that an additional 1,000 refill stations will be constructed. Finally, municipal governments have been working with automobile companies and industry research institutions to accelerate the development of new technologies. Continue reading
Natural gas supplier Kansas Gas Service, a division of ONEOK, Inc. has completed major upgrades to its public compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations in Overland Park and Topeka, Kansas. The USD 560,000 upgrades include doubling the capabilities of compressors, which transform low-pressure natural gas into a transportation fuel, and adding storage tanks to increase the amount of natural gas available at each location to fill vehicles.
New dispensers with updated controls make it easier for customers to operate the CNG pumps, improving fueling convenience at the 24/7 facilities.
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — President Obama issued an executive order Friday, establishing a meeting of the minds to work on natural gas policies for his administration.
The executive order creates a new working group made of representatives from at least 13 government agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others.
Its main task? Keep the various federal entities all on the same page when it comes to developing new policies and regulations surrounding shale gas.
Read more here.
The CNG Times 