A Current Look at the Natural Gas Fueling Infrastructure in the United States

The natural gas utility industry has led the development of the natural gas fueling infrastructure in the United States. Focusing primarily on compressed natural gas (CNG), the utility industry has built fueling stations to serve their own fleets and those of targeted customers. In addition, gas utility companies have formed partnerships with traditional fuel retailers to offer natural gas to a broader range of customers.

This paper will:

• Document the history of natural gas fueling infrastructure development from the early 1980's. It will provide statistics on the current status of the fueling infrastructure, including the numbers of private and public access stations and will forecast the number of stations required to serve projected natural gas vehicles (NGVs) through the year 2010.
• Examine the various types of CNG fueling technologies currently being used, and will discuss the major components of fueling systems.
• Discuss the current status of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and technologies for making CNG from LNG and will more closely analyze the benefits of utilizing LNG.
• Address issues related to developing suppliers of natural gas fueling equipment that meet market needs.
• Examine and discuss options for reducing the cost of purchasing, installing and maintaining natural gas fueling stations.
• Examine two key fire codes and provide insight into revisions that will make natural gas fueling infrastructure development more standardized.