Natural Gas Trucking

IMO this trickle will grow into a flood.

WSJ article on trucks & natural gas

btw I think free access to these articles is short-lived

One has to get past the Headline. LNG/CNG by pricing alone is attractive. The bigger problem (time solvable) is filling stations for said vehicles, and a transport-to-market expansion. Piplines are de facto. However, Rail is increasingly important. Bias Alert: I own 1350 shares of GWR, a Rail Company located in and owning/leasing trackage rights in the Allegany/Marcellus Shale Formation. Though the region is a mostly Oil/Coal, the Gas discoveries there can have and have had a major impact upon this Company. /Alert

Presumably business enterprises will prefer the LNG. I'm glad the article points out the fracking by liquid propane, as this raises the issue of one fuel (LP gas) being used to frack another fuel (LNG, which does have a quantity of Propane (and ethylene) gas present). I consider this issue to be similar to corn being grown for both ethanol and food purposes. Recently another round of acquisitions has occured in the LNG/CNG X&D business. Pipelineing and surface-transport are direct benefactors. Pipelineing due to the tolling process, and surface-transport for localized delivery.

IMHO for the E. Coasters among the group, this is a prime time-period to convert to LNG/CNG for the home. If you have a gas dryer... just complete the process and toss the oil-burner.

Master Limited Partnership NG Pipeline plays in the US are the way to benefit from this trend over the next 10 years.

You are looking at 5%-8% annual distribution rates with current tax advantages to the partnership structure. Where else can you get that level of current cash distributions from companies in a market that may be poised for dramatic growth in volume if NG/LNG really does take hold as a legitimate choice over Diesel as a transport fuel.

Whoever wins the election in November better put Nat Gas at the head of a national energy plan. “We, it turns out, are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas,” Obama said. So the left and the right better figure this one out.....wonder what happens to employment in the US, trade deficits, the strength of the dollar if we suddenly decide that being more energy independent really is in our national security interest!

It is such a no brainer that the politicians will never get it right......Sigh (tribute to Buzz)

Quote: 98Clubs

One has to get past the Headline. LNG/CNG by pricing alone is attractive.

You prompted me to alleviate some ignorance... thought I should share a pertinent paragraph from a Wikipedia article on CNG

Quote:

Compressed Natural Gas is often confused with liquefied natural gas (LNG). While both are stored forms of natural gas, the key difference is that CNG is gas that is stored (as a gas) at high pressure, while LNG is stored in even higher pressure, becoming liquid in the process. CNG has a lower cost of production and storage compared to LNG as it does not require an expensive cooling process and cryogenic tanks. CNG requires a much larger volume to store the same mass of gasoline or petrol and the use of very high pressures (3000 to 4000 psi, or 205 to 275 bar). As a consequence of this, LNG is often used for transporting natural gas over large distances, in ships, trains or pipelines, and the gas is then converted into CNG before distribution to the end user.

CNG can also be confused with LPG, which is liquified propane. Unlike natural gas (mostly methane), propane can be compressed to a liquid without continual refrigeration. LPG is commonly used to fuel vehicles in Australia.

CNG can be stored at lower pressure in a form known as an ANG (Adsorbed Natural Gas) tank, at 35 bar (500 psi, the pressure of gas in natural gas pipelines) in various sponge like materials, such as activated carbon[14] and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).[15] The fuel is stored at similar or greater energy density than CNG. This means that vehicles can be refuelled from the natural gas network without extra gas compression, the fuel tanks can be slimmed down and made of lighter, weaker materials.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_natural_gas

Quote: 98Clubs

IMHO for the E. Coasters among the group, this is a prime time-period to convert to LNG/CNG for the home. If you have a gas dryer... just complete the process and toss the oil-burner.

This large old home is using 24,000 kWh of electricity per year (much of it to heat water, run dryers, oven & stovetop, dehumidifiers and space heaters). It is also using about 1600 gallons of HHO. There is no piped in gas in this neighborhood. The gas pipeline may come years from now (or possibly never). Do you think we should convert anyway?

Quote: pacomartin

This large old home is using 24,000 kWh of electricity per year (much of it to heat water, run dryers, oven & stovetop, dehumidifiers and space heaters). It is also using about 1600 gallons of HHO. There is no piped in gas in this neighborhood. The gas pipeline may come years from now (or possibly never). Do you think we should convert anyway?

You'd have to look into who could deliver. In some areas some form of stored gas is used in rural areas... you see the white tanks in people's yards. Not sure what is typical.

Locomotives may start using natural gas.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100525235

Quote: odiousgambit

IMO this trickle will grow into a flood.

WSJ article on trucks & natural gas

btw I think free access to these articles is short-lived

Pakistan added over 2.7 million natural gas vehicles in 2010. They are looking to get more "bang" for their buck.