Natural Gas, primarily composed of methane with minor gas traces, occurs naturally underground and is extracted through gas wells or alongside crude oil production. Stored as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), it offers significant cost savings, typically one-third less than gasoline at the pump.
Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) represent cutting-edge alternative fuel technology available commercially. Both light and heavy-duty vehicles can utilize CNG. Notably, more than 20% of new transit bus orders are for natural gas buses, as reported by the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition. NGVs can either operate solely on CNG (dedicated) or utilize both CNG and gasoline or diesel (bi-fuel). Moreover, numerous vehicles are convertible to CNG usage. All major U.S. transit bus manufacturers offer CNG buses.
Applications of CNG encompass transit and school buses, refuse trucks, light-duty vehicles, vans, passenger cars, and taxis. While LNG isn’t suitable for light-duty vehicles, it serves as an ideal fuel for large (class 8) trucks, transit buses, and medium-duty fleet trucks. Currently, there are over 150,000 NGVs traversing U.S. roads, refueling at 1,500 locations, with more than half of these sites being commercially accessible.