Basics

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is a readily available alternative to gasoline that’s made by compressing natural gas to less than 1% of its volume at standard atmospheric pressure. Consisting mostly of methane, CNG is odorless, colorless and tasteless. It's drawn from domestically drilled gas wells or in conjunction with crude oil production.

CNG powers more than eight million vehicles on the road today. Unfortunately, only 150,000 of these are being used today in the U.S. The average growth rate in the U.S. shows a 3.7% per year since 2000, as contrasted with a booming global growth rate of 30.6% per year. Expanding the numbers of CNG fueling stations would allow for the increase of CNG vehicles on U.S. roads. There are 12,000 fueling stations around the world, yet the U.S. claims about 1,100. More stations will continue to be built in America in the coming years. However, as gasoline prices continue to raise, American interest in CNG is rising accordingly. And with good reason – CNG costs about 40% less than gasoline, it emits up to 90% less emissions than gasoline,* there’s an abundant supply and it’s produced right here in America. So it’s affordable, clean, abundant and American. *Emissions reductions may vary by pollutant and make/model of vehicle. (Source: www.cngnow.com)

Safety

A large part of CNG safety is related to the inherent characteristics of Natural Gas:



  • Being lighter than air, it does not pool in lower areas, as is the case with other gases.
  • Its combustion point is much higher than that of gasoline, which is why it is less likely to combust.
  • The proportions of gas in air that are required to make an explosive mixture are larger than those of other fuels.


History

The history of compressed natural gas (CNG) as a transportation fuel dates back to World War II. Natural gas vehicles are a proven technology that have been enhanced and refined over the years into a convenient and extremely safe method of transportation. Daily use of natural gas vehicles can be found throughout the United States in a variety of applications.