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Page added on November 8, 2013
Big trucking companies ready to shift to natural gas across the US
Sales of natural-gas powered big rigs could jump as much as fivefold this year as falling prices for both natural gas and the carbon fuel tanks required for such trucks come down, the Wall Street Journal says.
Lowe’s, Procter & Gamble, UPS and PepsiCo are among the major US companies that have gone on record saying they’re expanding their fleet of trucks that can run on either compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG). For instance, UPS is buying 1,000 natural-gas trucks by year-end, and P&G, whose fleet is about seven percent natural gas, is looking to boost that figure to 20 percent by 2015. FedEx wants 30 percent of its long-distance trucks to be powered by natural gas by 2023, while engine makers like Cummins Westport and Volvo are adding products to the market. As a result, as much as five percent of new heavy-duty trucks may be natural-gas powered in 2013, up from about one percent last year.
CNG sells for about $1.50 a gallon, less than half the $3.87 price of diesel last week. That means that, even with a carbon fuel tank boosting the price of a $120,000 rig by another $40,000 or so, a trucker that typically gets about six miles a gallon and drives about 100,000 miles a year, could pay back the extra cost in about two years. Already about 60 percent of new garbage trucks in the US will be natural-gas powered this year. Those drivers will be helped by an expanding network of CNG stations across the country. Autoblog‘s got more on natural-gas trucks here.
5 Comments on "Big trucking companies ready to shift to natural gas across the US"
BillT on Fri, 8th Nov 2013 12:45 pm
More porn from the Greenies…
mo on Fri, 8th Nov 2013 1:34 pm
Good move. Should be a lot of truckers crying when nat gas production starts to fall and prices start to climb
bobinget on Fri, 8th Nov 2013 3:18 pm
Greens and AGW deniers have one important thing in common.
Transition, away from fossil LIQUID fuels will be gradual. Greens want all liquid fuel consumption to end. (BillT)
AGW deniers also tend to think black and white with little room for nuance. Progress is often incremental. “Giving in” to Greens switching a small percentage of consumption away from diesel is not recognized as progress, but admitting there is anything amiss about diesel in the foist place.
As for falling NG production. Increased consumption will have more to do with higher prices then production deficits. (so many wells are ‘shut-in’)
Even if NG prices were to double ($7.25) IT WOULD STILL BE CHEAPER then diesel predicated on $190. per barrel oil.
Because Cornucopian’s deny diesel exhaust is all that harmful, switching to CNG is unnecessary.
BillT on Sat, 9th Nov 2013 2:04 pm
There is no ‘progress’, only regression. Switching hydrocarbons does not change anything. When NG goes back up, the switch will fizzle out with no significant changes. We are in a contracting energ6y world. The West will contract fastest because they waste more. The East will still grow because they use energy to make things and to increase wealth. Cars are money pits and expendable, eventually.
Kenz300 on Sat, 9th Nov 2013 9:23 pm
The oil monopoly on transportation fuels is slowly ending.
Electric, biofuel, hybrid, CNG, LNG and hydrogen fueled vehicles are all being produced and their numbers continue to grow.