Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center: CNG and LNG: Alternative Fuels

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CNG and LNG: Alternative Fuels

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The interest in natural gas as an alternative transportation fuel stems mainly

from its clean-burning qualities, its domestic resource base, and its
commercial availability.

Hydrogen
Natural Gas
Basics
What is Natural Gas?
CNG & LNG

Because of the gaseous nature of this fuel, it must be stored onboard a

vehicle in either a compressed gaseous (compressed natural gas, CNG) or
liquefied (liquefied natural gas, LNG) state. CNG and LNG are considered
alternative fuels under the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

Production

Compressed Natural Gas

Distribution

To provide adequate driving range, CNG must be stored onboard a vehicle in

tanks at high pressureup to 3,600 pounds per square inch. A CNG-powered
vehicle gets about the same fuel economy as a conventional gasoline vehicle
on a gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) basis. A GGE is the amount of
alternative fuel that contains the same amount of energy as a gallon of
gasoline. A GGE equals about 5.7 lb (2.6 kg) of CNG.

Benefits
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Liquefied Natural Gas

To store more energy onboard a vehicle in a smaller volume, natural gas can
be liquefied. To produce LNG, natural gas is purified and condensed into
liquid by cooling to -260F (-162C). At atmospheric pressure, LNG occupies
only 1/600 the volume of natural gas in vapor form. A GGE equals about 1.5
gallons of LNG. Because it must be kept at such cold temperatures, LNG is
stored in double-wall, vacuum-insulated pressure vessels. LNG fuel systems
typically are only used with heavy-duty vehicles.
See Natural Gas Fueling Station Locations to locate the natural gas stations
near you. For price information, see the Alternative Fuel Price Report.
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Content Last Updated: 02/19/2010

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