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Resource Center
Natural Gas: The Clean, Abundant, Affordable and American Alternative
Natural Gas is Clean
- Natural gas is the cleanest commercially available fuel for transportation today.
- Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) produce between 93-95 percent less overall toxics compared to gasoline and diesel vehicles, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20–30 percent compared with diesel and gasoline fueled vehicles.
- The natural gas fueled Civic GX produced by American Honda has been rated the “Greenest Vehicle” for seven consecutive years by the American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy.
- Converting one refuse truck from diesel to natural gas is the equivalent of taking as many as 325 cars off the road in terms of pollution reduction.
Natural Gas is Abundant
- New discoveries and newly available technology have extended U.S. natural gas reserves to a nearly 120 year supply.
- A two-year study by the Potential Gas Committee funded by the Colorado School of Mines found America has 35 percent more natural gas than previously thought. The 2,074 trillion cubic feet of domestic natural gas reserves cited in the study is the equivalent of nearly 350 billion barrels of oil, about the same as Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves.
- Worldwide, natural gas reserves are greater than petroleum.
Natural Gas is Affordable
- Natural gas has been 25-42 percent cheaper than diesel over the last 14 years.
- Transit buses that use natural gas can expect an annual fuel cost savings of almost $20,000 when compared to conventional “clean diesel” buses and more than $11,500 when compared with diesel-electric hybrid buses”.
- Natural gas costs, on average, over one-third less than conventional gasoline at the pump.
Natural Gas is American
- 98 percent of all the natural gas consumed in America is produced in North America, while approximately 66 percent of the crude oil we use is imported.
- There are about 1100 NGV fueling stations in the U.S. and more than half are available for public use.
- The necessary natural gas fuel distribution infrastructure is already in place—over 1.5 million miles of natural gas pipelines and distribution lines blanket the U.S. making supplies readily available for new fueling stations.
Natural Gas Vehicles are Widely Used
- Use of NGVs is widespread and growing—there are approximately 110,000 NGVs on U.S. roads today and over 10 million worldwide.
- Over 25 different manufacturers produce 100 models of light, medium and heavy-duty natural gas vehicles and engines in the U.S.
- In the U.S., natural gas vehicles can be factory ordered from a variety of mainline manufacturers including companies such as American Honda, American LaFrance-Condor, Autocar, Blue Bird, Thomas Built, Crane Carrier, Freightliner Custom Chassis, NABI, New Flyer, Optima, Orion, Ottawa, Capacity, Peterbilt, Sterling, Schwarze, Tymco, and Allianz-Johnston.
- Several manufacturers—Baytech, BAF, Emission Solutions Inc and IMPCO—also offer warranted retrofits and repowers of many popular light, medium-and heavy-duty vehicle models made by GM, Ford, Isuzu, Workhorse, and International.
- NGVs are used in a variety of fleets including: taxi and shuttle services; food, beverage and other delivery businesses; refuse companies; school bus fleets; a wide variety of private and public work trucks such as sweepers, dump trucks and plows; and transit buses. One-in-five (20%) of all new transit buses on order nationwide now are natural gas-powered.
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