Strong Economics Behind Natural Gas Vehicle Growth: New CNG refueling stations boost demand for compressors

摘要

Interest in natural gas-fueled vehicles (NGVs) is being buoyed by an abundance of low-cost natural gas. NGVs run on compressed natural gas (CNG) or gasified liquid natural gas (LNG) instead of gasoline or diesel fuel. NGVAmerica estimates that there are more than 15.2 million NGVs in use worldwide, but only about 120,000 in the U.S. A lack of fueling stations, which use high-pressure reciprocating compressors, has been one of the barriers to domestic NGV growth. Of the nation's 150,000 gasoline stations, 42% (63,000) offer diesel but only about 7% (1100) have NGV fueling lanes. Therefore, vehicles that return to base daily or that travel regularly to strategically located stations are currently the best NGV candidates.