Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an Alternative Fuel

GVF Transportation recently attended a workshop held by TMA Bucks that discussed the potential use of CNG as an alternative fuel for cars, trucks, and buses. Before we go any further, it is important to note that CNG is not propane. Propane is derived from petroleum and is heavier than air, whereas CNG is lighter than air, thus it disperses quickly when released. CNG is also much safer than propane and gasoline when it comes to spills and combustion. CNG also compares very favorably to gasoline as a fuel source. Aside from being both cheaper and more environmentally efficient than gasoline, natural gas is commonly found throughout the United States, and Pennsylvania in particular. Therefore, vehicles using CNG help to promote energy independence.

Though CNG is slowly gaining notoriety, gas-electric hybrids are the most popular energy efficient cars among American manufacturers and consumers right now. Presently, the only car that is specifically designed to run on CNG, and is available in the United States, is the Honda Civic. It should be noted, though, that General Motors has released several gas-CNG hybrid cars in foreign markets. Major progress with using CNG as an alternative fuel has been seen with industrial vehicles and public transportation. The City of Philadelphia is set to release a request for proposal to purchase 75 garbage trucks that will run on CNG. Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) which operates out of State College in Centre County, PA, began to replace their entire fleet of diesel buses with CNG-fueled buses in 1994. They were the first transit system on the East Coast to adopt CNG as their primary fuel. Lower Merion School District has replaced all of their diesel fleet with buses that operate using CNG.


Not only is CNG cheaper than gasoline and diesel, there are several government grant programs available to assist businesses, municipalities, and other organizations with converting their vehicles to CNG. One of the major drawbacks to switching to CNG is the initial cost of the vehicles and building the fueling stations. To counter this hurdle, the federal government, in conjunction with many state governments, offers a tax incentive to purchase CNG vehicles as well as multiple grant opportunities. Pennsylvania offers the Alternative Fuel Incentive Grant (AFIG) program to assist organizations switching to alternative energy vehicles. The federal government also offers a fifty cent tax incentive on CNG vehicles per gallon of gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE), or the amount of CNG used to equal the amount of one gallon of gasoline. This also helps to remedy another slight drawback on CNG, which is that it is roughly 5% less fuel efficient than gasoline. This gap is likely to shrink as technology improves, and that small level of inefficiency along with the cost of the physical equipment does not change the fact that CNG use saves organizations more over the long-term than gasoline.