Giving CNG Conversions the Green Light
By Kate Harland, December 19th, 2011 @ 6:59 pm
We have talked before about natural gas vehicles here and by now you know how much we love alternative fuel. So we were pretty excited when the press release came through from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection earlier this month that includes NGVs with EPA certified conversion kits in the Pennsylvania Clean Vehicles Program.
Previously, PA low emission vehicle standards did not address all alternative fuel conversion systems. The new technical guidance comes only a few years after activity in the Marcellus Shale region began to intensify. Estimates for the capacity of the shale formation range from 100-200 years worth of fuel and it sits at the epicenter of many natural gas pipelines.
This is certainly a financial boon to the residents of the area, but what does it mean for natural gas powered vehicles in general, and across the United States? The abundance of the resource combined with the adjusted regulations are positive indicators that NGVs will become more widely used. As natural gas becomes more easily available to the consumer fuel market the accessibility anxiety related to alternative fuel should progressively dissipate. And, now that CNG conversion kits are beginning to be more widely recognized as a “clean vehicle” the number of older vehicles converted should eventually rise.
CNG and other alternative fuels can be an important part of a firm’s initiatives to reduce their overall TCO. With CNG selling for about half what a gallon of gasoline would cost, the breakeven point of the additional conversion cost can arrive sooner than expected, followed by savings. The biggest barriers to adoption, the high price of conversions and availability of the fuels, are likely to shrink in the future making alternative fuels even more accessible.
For more information about the regulations on conversion kits or to view the technical guidance, visit www.dep.state.pa.us
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