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CARS and trucks powered by natural gas make up a significant portion of the vehicle fleet in many parts of the world. Iran has more than two million natural gas vehicles on the road. As of 2009, Argentina had more than 1.8 million in operation and almost 2,000 natural gas filling stations. Brazil was not far behind. Italy and Germany have substantial natural gas vehicle fleets. Is America next? With natural gas in plentiful supply at bargain prices in the United States, issues that have limited its use in cars are being rethought, and its market share could increase, perhaps...

The trucking industry is responsible for more than 68% of total freight moved in America, according to a report by the American Trucking Association. In 2012, 9.4 billion tons were transported by truck. Industry-wide total revenue generated was in excess of $642 billion. In other words, a lot of economic trade is carried on the back of an 18-wheeler. The problem is figuring out how to fuel the engines capable of hauling all that freight, while still ending up with a positive bottom line. Profit margins for trucking companies average less than 5%, with fuel costs taking up more than...

GE Capital’s Transportation Finance business and Clean Energy Fuels Corp.[NASDAQ: CLNE], the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America, have entered into a strategic alliance to accelerate the conversion of heavy-duty trucking fleets from diesel to cleaner-burning, less-expensive natural gas. To take advantage of this opportunity, truck fleet operators will first work with Clean Energy to develop natural gas fueling contracts, and will then apply for loans and leases, including fair market value leases, from GE Capital to acquire trucks from manufacturers that produce commercial natural gas vehicles (NGVs). Clean Energy will then help offset the...

Capitalizing on America’s abundant supply of clean-burning, low-cost natural gas, General Motors said Wednesday it will build a Chevrolet Impala sedan that can operate on either gasoline or compressed natural gas and travel up to 500 miles between fill-ups. The bi-fuel Impala, which goes on sale summer as a 2015 model, could be the start of something big. Honda Motor has been selling a natural gas-powered Civic since 2011 and while still modest, sales have been steadily rising. The Japanese carmaker is on track to sell about 2,500 CNG Civics this year, up from 1,900 in 2012 and 1,200 the...

The T. Boone Pickens-backed Clean Energy Fuels has launched a “new” kind of clean and green automotive fuel called Redeem. You wouldn’t know it from the breathless coverage of this product in the New York Times, but there’s nothing new in the chemical and physical composition of this — it’s simply compressed natural gas. CNG has been marketed in the U.S. since at least 1980. Around the world there’s some 17 million cars and heavy vehicles that run on the stuff. So what’s different about Redeem? Because of where the natural gas ostensibly comes from, it’s greener than your average...

ETH researchers redesigned the conventional diesel engine of a VW Golf to run on 90% natural gas. Credit: Tobias Ott / ETH Zurich Video at link. Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an internal combustion engine that emits less than half the CO2 compared to a regular engine without compromising performance. This corresponds to fuel consumption of less than 2.4 l per 100 km. This natural gas-diesel hybrid engine is based on a system of sophisticated control engineering. The global energy markets are changing. New extraction methods are tapping into oilfields and natural gas deposits that have been inaccessible until...

Ford Motor Co. will offer a natural gas option for its 2014 F-150 pickup truck models, turning drivers of America’s most popular vehicle into potential consumers of the low-cost fuel. The option, scheduled to be announced Wednesday, will add a major prospect for consumers hoping to use natural gas to fuel cars and light-duty trucks, since only one such vehicle — the Honda Civic Natural Gas — is available now for direct sales from an automaker to U.S. customers. “There is the potential that we may look back on this launch as when natural gas really became a mass-market fuel...

Dual-Fuel Configuration In Proof-Of-Concept Airplane Airplane manufacturer Aviat Aircraft, Inc. and Minneapolis-based Aviation Foundation of America, will unveil the first dual fuel, piston powered aircraft to operate on both compressed natural gas (CNG) and aviation gasoline. The Aviat Husky CNG will be on display outside the Innovations Pavilion throughout AirVenture 2013 this week.

The perception of natural gas as a mainstream fuel for vehicles runs the gamut, dependent upon where you live: from the improbable…to the viable…to the everyday reality. So from recent burrito research expeditions, here are ten points to stir up the melding pot of the great natural gas vehicle debate. 1) Here is a breakdown of the total number of natural gas vehicles globally. The key takeaways: there are A LOT of natural gas vehicles already in the world (15 millionish in 2011) and the number is rapidly increasing. However, there are relatively few in North America (aka, the tiny...

Moscow has reiterated its vivid interest for Cyprus’ natural gas by expressing once again its interest for the exploitation of the reserves in the island’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The interest was expressed during a meeting in Moscow between the Cyprus House President Yiannakis Omirou and Russian Deputy Minister of Energy Yury Sentyurin. The meeting lasted two hours and was also attended by the members of the parliamentary party delegation which accompany Omirou, as well as by representatives of Russian natural gas companies, NOVATEK and Gazprom Bank. Omirou arrived in Russia this morning, for a two-day official visit, heading a...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Truckers considering natural gas as an alternative to high-priced diesel say the cost of vehicles that run on the cheap and cleaner-burning fuel is still too high for them to see a timely payback on their investment. A push to run more of the nation's truck fleet on cleaner, domestically produced natural gas is rapidly gaining momentum. [...] Natural gas trucks' greenhouse gas emissions are about 20 percent lower than those of diesel trucks. But truck companies must fork over an extra $40,000 to $80,000 per natural gas truck - a big markup considering a heavy-duty...

Allentown's Lehigh Gas Partners plans to open up to 20 publicly accessible compressed natural gas fueling locations over the next five years, the company announced Monday. Lehigh Gas, which operates, leases and/or supplies gasoline to more than 800 gas stations and convenience stores in the eastern U.S., dipped its toe in the natural gas fueling industry in September, cutting the ribbon on its second and third natural gas fueling stations outside Philadelphia. A fourth location, on Route 309 in Whitehall Township, should be up and running in a couple of weeks, said Phil Lutkewitte, Lehigh Gas' alternative fuels manager. Lehigh...

Amid the nation's shale gas boom, natural gas is being considered as an alternative to diesel to fuel heavy trucks. The "Blueprint for a Clean and Secure Energy Future" unveiled by U.S. President Barack Obama last week calls for "putting in place new incentives" for medium- and heavy-duty trucks that run on natural gas or other alternative fuels and providing a credit for 50 percent of the incremental cost of a dedicated alternative-fuel truck for a 5-year period. "The natural gas vehicle market is already growing but the vehicle incentives the president calls for would help accelerate that growth and...

ENN Group Co Ltd, one of China's largest private companies, is quietly rolling out plans to establish a network of natural gas fueling stations for trucks along U.S. highways. With plans to build 50 stations this year alone, ENN joins a small but formidable group of players -- including Clean Energy Fuels Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc -- in an aggressive push to develop an infrastructure for heavy-duty trucks fueled by cheap and abundant natural gas. Clean Energy is backed by T. Boone Pickens and Chesapeake Energy Corp. The move is yet another example of China's ambition to grab...

<p>That's understandable given that the egg in this case is government support and Akerson is head of General Motors, a company that received a $49.5 billion federal bailout to keep it in business.</p> <p>He doesn't want to be seen as calling on the government for help, although he essentially is.</p>

Energy density and the cost, weight, and size of onboard energy storage are important characteristics of fuels for transportation. Fuels that require large, heavy, or expensive storage can reduce the space available to convey people and freight, weigh down a vehicle (making it operate less efficiently), or make it too costly to operate, even after taking account of cheaper fuels. Compared to gasoline and diesel, other options may have more energy per unit weight, but none have more energy per unit volume. On an equivalent energy basis, motor gasoline (which contains up to 10% ethanol) was estimated to account for...

Would you pay $2.14 for a gallon of gas? I know I would. According to AAA, the nationwide average for a gallon of gasoline is $3.80... Diesel is even more expensive at $4.06. Yet despite high fuel costs across the country, a select group of drivers are paying only $2.14 a gallon... more than $1.50 below the national average. What's the catch? To be honest, there isn't one. These drivers aren't getting some "special deal," and this isn't some publicity stunt that's only available to a select few. They're simply filling up their tanks with a different kind of transportation...

Like many of its energy-producing peers, Houston’s Apache Corp. is trying to spur what it hopes will become a sweeping shift in the nation’s transportation fuel from black gold toward shale gas. In an effort to increase demand for the natural gas it produces by making the fuel more accessible to potential consumers, Apache paid about $1.3 million for a compressed natural gas station near Bush Intercontinental Airport, which began fueling the Houston Airport System’s fleet of 30 CNG-powered parking shuttles last month. The one-pump station on Greens Road is being operated and maintained under contract with the city by...

Volvo Trucks unveiled last week its plans to launch a 13-liter heavy-duty natural gas engine featuring Westport high pressure direct injection (HPDI) technology. The engine, marketed under the “Blue Power” designation, is scheduled to launch for the North American market in 2014. The engine’s advanced high pressure diesel ignition technology will provide significant fuel efficiency gains compared with current natural gas products. Combined with the company’s previously announced offering of compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered Volvo VNM and VNL model daycabs, the new engine will provide customers with a complete range of natural gas-powered transportation solutions. Volvo is also testing another...

PLYMOUTH, MI, May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT / NASDAQ:WPRT), the global leader in natural gas engines, is taking its first natural gas pick-up truck on a road trip across the Eastern USA this week, from May 21 to 24. Driving entirely on compressed natural gas (CNG), a team from Westport Innovations will make the 700 mile drive in the brand new Westport™ WiNG powered bi-fuel Ford F-250 Super Duty truck. During stops in Cleveland, OH; Canton, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; and Pottstown, PA; the public will have the chance to view and drive this low carbon fuel...