American Gas - August/September 2011 - (Page 31)

By Kathryn Clay, PhD lead sponsor, Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla., has said, “We are spending $1 billion per day on foreign oil. This distorts our foreign policy and military policy, slows our economic growth and costs jobs here at home.” NGVs are the best option to displace foreign oil today. Congress really can’t afford not to pass the NAT GAS Act. The NGV industry could use every gas utility’s support to get this bill passed. The Drive to Succeed AGA and ANGA recently launched a natural gas transportation campaign to build on the increasing popularity of natural gas vehicles. AMERICAN GAS: If the NAT GAS Act becomes law, what would be your forecast for the NGV market? KOLODZIEJ: In terms of growth, we focus on two numbers: the number of vehicles and the amount of natural gas used. Both are important, but in the United States the fuel volume used has been growing at a much faster rate than the number of vehicles. In fact, natural gas use in vehicles has risen by 25 percent per year the last few years. That’s because the industry’s primary focus has been on high-fuel-use fleet vehicles like trash trucks, transit buses, 18-wheelers, delivery vehicles and taxis. According to the Department of Energy, the average car owner drives 12,000 miles per year. If you assume they’re getting 25 miles per gallon, they use 480 gallons of gasoline per year. An 18-wheeler might drive 120,000 miles per year and get 6 miles per gallon, using 20,000 gallons of fuel. (Each gallon of gasoline is the equivalent of 1.25 therms.) So while we have only about 120,000 NGVs on U.S. roads today, last year they used about 43 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas. With the right federal and state policies in place, like the NAT GAS Act, that figure could grow to 1,250 Bcf by 2025, which would displace the equivalent of 10 billion gallons of gasoline per year. It really is an extraordinarily exciting time for the NGV industry. Kathryn Clay, PhD, executive director of the AGA-ANGA natural gas transportation campaign, refuels an LNG vehicle at a publicaccess fueling station in Salt Lake City. he increased use of natural gas provides many benefits: America’s clean, domestically abundant, affordable fuel enhances both national and energy security as well as improves air quality compared with the use of other fossil fuels. A new program recently created by AGA and America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) is striving to enhance the role natural gas can play as a more affordable and reliable source of transportation fuel. The natural gas transportation campaign began as a collaborative effort by its founding member companies in the fall of 2009, and in January 2010, T the group became a fee-based program with additional in-kind support provided by both AGA and ANGA. I joined the campaign as executive director in April 2011. Currently, more than 50 companies, about equally divided between AGA and ANGA members, are participating in the campaign. Membership currently is open only to AGA utility and ANGA producer member companies. Campaign activities are organized into four standing committees: Vehicle Programs, Infrastructure, Advocacy and Marketing. The Vehicle Programs Committee is working to encourage natural AmeriCAn GAs AuGuSt/SePtember 2011 31

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Gas - August/September 2011

American Gas - August/September 2011
Contents
President’s Message
In the Know
Industry News
Safety First
Is Now the Time for NGVs?
NGVs for America
The Drive to Succeed
Peer Pressures
Vendor News
Marketplace
Advertisers’ Index
Places to Be
Noteworthies
Jobline
Facts on Gas

American Gas - August/September 2011