Facts about Natural Gas Vehicles

• There are about 112,000 NGVs on U.S. roads today and more than 13 million worldwide.
• There are about 1,000 NGV fueling stations in the U.S. – and about half of them are open to the public.
• In the United States, about 30 different manufacturers produce 100 models of light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles and engines.
• Natural gas costs, on average, one-third less than conventional gasoline at the pump. The U.S. Energy Information Agency reports that natural gas, on average, costs 42 percent less than diesel fuel on an energy equivalent basis and is expected to cost 50 percent less by 2035.
• In 2010, about 44 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas was used for vehicle fuel.

Worldwide NGV Statistics

The Gas Vehicle Report in May 2011 reported that 13.2 million natural gas vehicles are in use worldwide. The United States ranks 14th in the world, with less than 1%. According to the Gas Vehicle Report, these are the top ten countries:

Country’s share of the world’s total NGVs

Use of natural gas as a transportation fuel is growing

• Industry data shows that vehicular natural gas nearly doubled between 2003 and 2009. In 2010, natural gas displaced more than 350 million gasoline gallon equivalents each year.
• Transit buses now account for about 62% of all vehicular natural gas use.
• According to the American Public Transit Association, 26 percent of all new transit bus orders in 2009 were for natural gas. According to the association, in 2009 about 18 percent of transit buses run on natural gas.
• Waste collection and transfer vehicles, which account for about 12 percent of total vehicular natural gas use, are the fastest growing NGV segment
• More than 35 airports in the U.S. have natural gas vehicles in their own fleets and/or have policies encouraging use by private fleets operating on premises, making this sector the third largest with about 9 percent of total vehicular natural gas use.
• The successful clean port transportation initiative in Southern California is spurring adoption of similar policies in other ports on both coasts.
• The International Association of Natural Gas Vehicles estimates that there will be more than 50 million natural gas vehicles worldwide within the next 10 years, or about 9 percent of the world transportation fleets.

Benefits of NGVs

Petroleum Displacement

Making America less dependent on foreign oil is a national priority. President Obama, in accepting his party’s nomination, established his own clear goals:

For the sake of our economy, our security and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president:
in 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Congress, too, strongly supports reducing petroleum use, and has passed laws that provide to incentives to Americans who move to non-petroleum fuels. While the United States imports more than 60 percent of the oil it uses, 98 percent of the natural gas used in the U.S. was produced in North America. Every gallon equivalent of natural gas used in vehicles is one less gallon of petroleum that has to be imported.

Urban Emissions

Exhaust emissions from NGVs are generally much lower than those from gasoline-powered vehicles. For example, the natural gas-powered Honda Civic GX is recognized by the U.S. EPA as the cleanest commercially available, internal-combustion vehicle on earth. The Civic GX is rated by the California Air Resources Board as meeting the very stringent AT-PZEV standard. The CNG powered Civic produces 95% fewer emissions of non-methane hydrocarbons, and 75 percent less emissions of nitrogen oxides than its gasoline counterpart. Dedicated NGVs produce little or no evaporative emissions during fueling and use. In gasoline vehicles, evaporative and fueling emissions account for significant portion of the emission associated with operating a vehicle.
Replacing a typical older in-use vehicle with a new NGV provides the following reductions in exhaust emissions of:

• Carbon monoxide (CO) by 70 percent – 90 percent
• Non-methane organic gas (NMOG) by 50 – 75 percent
• Nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 75 – 95 percent
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) by 20 – 30 percent

These comparisons were generated using the Air Credit Model available from Argonne National Laboratory. The actual emission benefits of introducing natural gas vehicles into a fleet will vary depending on the type of NGVs used and whether the emission comparison is based on the emissions of the vehicles being replaced or new motor vehicles. Fleets that replace in-use medium and heavy duty diesel vehicles with new natural gas vehicles will see the most significant reductions in emissions since medium and heavy duty trucks put out much more emissions than light duty vehicles.vehicles.

Greenhouse Gases

Per unit of energy, natural gas contains less carbon than any other fossil fuel, and thus produces lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per vehicle mile traveled. While NGVs do emit methane, another principle greenhouse gas, any increase in methane emissions is more than offset by a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions compared to other fuels. Recent analyses estimate that NGVs produce up to 20 – 30 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than comparable diesel and gasoline fueled vehicles. The emissions comparisons are based on figures from the California Air Resources Board.

For more information on the environmental benefits of NGVs, click here