NATURAL GAS FOR CARS AND TRUCKS: OPTIONS AND CHALLENGES - Natural Gas-powered Cars and Trucks: Options and Issues - page 25

alternative fuel recharging and refueling capability. Among other
provisions, it calls for an interagency council for the development and
procurement of alternative fuel vehicles by federal agencies.

End Notes

1

Although the comparative price advantage of natural gas over gasoline and diesel has shrunk
recently as world oil prices have fallen and as domestic natural gas prices have held
relatively steady, on an energy-equivalent basis, oil is still about three times as expensive as
natural gas.

2

For an analysis of the U.S. natural gas supply, see CRS Report R42814, Natural Gas in the U.S.
Economy: Opportunities for Growth, by Robert Pirog and Michael Ratner.

3

In 2013, 0.03% of the transportation sector utilized natural gas. EIA, Transportation Sector
Energy Consumption, 2013, http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec2_11.pdf.

4

Prometheus Energy, ―LNG Quick Facts,‖ http://www.prometheusenergycom/benefits/
documents/ LNGQuickFacts.pdf.

5

Ambient temperature and pressure reflect the level of those elements in the surrounding
environment.

6

John G. Ingersoll, Natural Gas Vehicles (Lilburn, GA: Fairmont Press, 1996), p. 81.

7

Psi is a unit of measurement meaning pound-force per square inch and is the pressure resulting
from a one-pound force on a one-inch area. The higher the psi, the greater the pressure
inside a container.
8 CNG vehicles' fuel systems must meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards 303 and 304.
See U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
―Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Regulations,‖ http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/
rules/import/fmvss.
9 General Motors, ―Chevrolet Announces Pricing of CNG-Capable 2015 Impala‖, press release
May 6, 2014; Michael Austin, ―2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas,‖ Car and Driver, March
2012.
10 A 2015 gasoline-fueled Chevy Impala lists for $27,060; its CNG version lists for $38,210.
Similarly, a 2015 Honda Civic lists for $18,490 and its CNG counterpart for $26,640.
Source: GM and Honda.

11

The natural gas Honda Civic is a dedicated vehicle, with a CNG tank and no gasoline tank.
12 Christopher Helman, ―Budweiser Puts Its Diesel Trucks Out to Pasture, Switches to Natural
Gas,‖ Forbes, September 9, 2014.

13

Natural Gas Vehicles for America presentation, September 2014.

14

Natural Gas Vehicles for America, https://www.ngvamerica.org/vehicles/vehicle-availability/.

15

Estimates on environmental benefits vary. A recent Department of Energy analysis predicted
that after new vehicle fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards are fully implemented in
2035, CNG cars would achieve roughly 10% lower and 5% lower greenhouse emissions
than gasoline and diesel cars, respectively. A natural gas industry group estimates that
natural gas vehicles emit 13 to 21% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline or diesel
fuels. NGVA, https://www.ngvamerica.org/natural-gas/environmental-benefits.

16

The tanks add weight to the truck and reduce the size of the payload that can be carried.