Compressed Natural Gas…have you heard of it? You may have seen it while driving past a gas station that supplied it. We have written blogs before about converting cars to natural gas. This blog, in particular, does a great job explaining what CNG is and how it ties into natural gas cars. In a short definition, CNG is an alternative to gasoline that consists mostly of methane. CNG is made by compressing natural gas to less than 1% of its volume at standard atmospheric pressure according to cngnow.com.
Currently, Pennsylvania has a total of 61 CNG fueling station with 35 of those being open to the public. This number is about to go up! PennDot, also known at The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, just approved an $84.5 million contract for expansion of CNG use for the public and public transportation agencies. The plans for the fueling stations were approved in September 2014 by the Pennsylvania’s Public-Private Partnership Board. And on March 28th, PennDot announced the contract. PennDot’s outlook on this contract is that it would “leverage the abundance of natural gas that’s being produced in the state.” (Natural Gas Intel)
This contract will be an ongoing 20-year project that was awarded to three companies. One of these companies, Trillium, is to design, build, operate, and maintain 29 additional CNG fueling stations at public transportation agencies. Seven of these will be available to the public. Trillium is a company that already provides CNG to vehicles for airport fleets, school districts, and transit authorities. Annually they are delivering more that 55 million gallons of CNG!
Ever heard of Love’s Travel Stop? Well they actually acquired Trillium in February. By acquiring Trillium, Love’s hopes to expand its markets. Since the acquisition, Love’s now operated 65 CNG stations across the United States. Bill Cashmareck, the GM of Love’s, said that, “Pennsylvania is one of the largest producers of natural gas, and this project will help sustain one of the state’s most valuable industries.” Well Bill…I can say I agree with you. I think expanding the use of natural gas will be an advantage for the highest producing shale play in the United States. Not convinced? Just wait ‘til you hear the rest of the advantages at the end.
So when is all this happening? It is estimated that all this building will begin this fall and hopefully completed by spring 2021. On top of building new facilities, Trillium is also revamping current CNG stations. Including the new builds and the current stations, they would supply CNG to more than 1,600 buses.
Back to the advantages and good stuff that comes out of this deal. Excluding taxes, PennDot will receive a 15% royalty for every gallon equivalent (or cubic foot) of CNG sold to the public. This will be used to help the cost of the project as a whole. Trillium has said that they guarantee at least $2.1 million in royalties over the life of the agreement term. PennDot is saying that this would save transit agencies more than $10 million dollars a year. On top of the monetary benefits, this would also help out the environment. The CNG stations would eliminate 20 million pounds of CO2 emissions a year due to the transit buses running off of CNG.
Once everything is said and done, more than 1,600 buses running off of CNG supplied from these fueling stations will be in transit.
Feel like jumping on the CNG powered band wagon but don’t have a fleet of trucks or busses? Well check out what Ford, Chevrolet, or others are offering to the consumer market. You can even order a 2016 Chevy Impala from the factory that is dual fuel (CNG/gasoline) capable the day it arrives. Even with gasoline prices where they are CNG is still cheaper per Gas Gallon Equivalent at the local CNG station on my way to work in Houston.
I like to follow news and updates in the Marcellus shale. As a salesperson in the natural gas industry whose region is predominately in the Marcellus, I was definitely interested in this. What does CROFT do in the Marcellus? Well speaking of helping out the environment, we also have natural gas production equipment such as our dehydrators that emit no emissions and require no air permits!
