Natural gas vehicles (NGVs) may not have much political appeal these days in Washington. The New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans (NAT GAS) Act attracted bipartisan support in the US Senate and more than 180 cosponsors in the US House last session. But it moved no further in a Congress where leaders say they oppose picking energy "winners and losers."
NGVs are slowly making progress in several US states, however. "In Arkansas, we continue our efforts to develop and promote alternative fuels," Gov. Mike Beebe (D) said in a Jan. 6 weekly column and radio address. "This past August, the Arkansas Energy Office created a $1.2 million, federally funded program to increase the number of vehicles in Arkansas that run on compressed natural gas."
He said under the program, managers of public and private fleets can apply for rebates to purchase new NGVs or to convert existing vehicles. State agencies, universities and colleges, cities, counties, school districts and other fleets already are taking advantage of the program, Beebe said.
In Colorado, Gov. John W. Hickenlooper (D) said the state and Oklahoma jointly developed a request for proposals for NGVs to replace existing vehicles in state fleets.
"When we launched this effort we had no idea how many other states would join us," he said in his Jan. 12 State-of-the-State address. "We are now up to eight, and counting. Because the vehicles are cheaper to operate, many local municipalities are interested in joining us, too."
Automobile manufacturers also are paying attention, Hickenlooper said. "We are well on our way to putting cleaner-burning vehicles on Colorado roadways," he maintained.
Refueling challenge
Refueling infrastructure traditionally has posed the biggest obstacle to widespread NGV deployment. Federal, state, and local government fleets are a good place to start changing this. "That's because it's common for these vehicles to be centrally maintained and fueled," Beebe explained. "Also, they tend to travel more miles per day than personal vehicles. Therefore, they can take better advantage of the lower price per gallon."
Arkansas also has spent nearly $500,000 to build two more NGV refueling stations along Interstates 40 and 30, in addition to five which already exist, he said.
NGV America, the primary trade association promoting hydrogen as well as NGVs, said 19 states adopted NGV legislation in 2011. Several more bills were introduced, said Jeffrey L. Clarke, NGV America's general counsel and regulatory affairs director.
"States historically have tried to piggy-back on federal alternative fuel vehicle incentives," he told OGJ on Jan. 24, adding, "There probably are a half dozen with those incentives already. More are seeing if they can afford them."
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