From blogs to Wall Street there was louder talk in recent weeks about natural gas in transportation, prompting signs that there is more market pull and a tipping point of sorts may be reached after several decades of ups and downs for the natural gas vehicle (NGV) sector.

Major manufacturers brought their alternative fueled vehicles out of the closet at the 2012 Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY recently. Cummins Inc. announced new 12-liter and 15-liter natural gas engines; Freightliner Trucks, a division of Daimler Trucks North America LLC, announced a 12-liter natural gas engine will power some of its models; Volvo Group will partner with Westport Innovations Inc. to develop a new 13-liter engine platform, and Kenworth Truck Co. announced that four of their truck configurations will be available with a 12-liter natural gas engine.

At the same show, heavy duty truck manufacturer Navistar of Illinois emphasized the “breadth of its natural gas solutions,” touting its plans to “leverage its existing commercial truck and engine platforms to offer the broadest portfolio of integrated products for the natural gas market” (see Daily GPI, Feb. 2).

Cummins said it has begun developing a new 15-liter heavy duty, spark-ignited natural gas engine to meet the demand for on-highway applications.

“As natural gas production grows in North America and the fuel becomes more readily available, Cummins believes that there is a strong market for engines powered by an alternative to diesel fuel,” said a Cummins spokesperson, adding that the company has been investing in NGV engines for some time.

It is already producing on-highway, spark-ignited natural gas engines for Cummins Westport in a joint venture with Vancouver, BC-based Westport Innovations (see Daily GPI, Feb. 9). Those are smaller and range in size from 5.9 liters to the recently announced 12 liters (ISX12G). Cummins is not disclosing how many of the 12- and 15-liter engines it plans to produce.

Separately, a major national supplier of natural gas for transportation and fueling stations for NGVs, Seal Beach, CA-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp., said that contract freight-carrying fleet operators are increasingly opting for natural gas as a fuel — either as liquefied natural gas (LNG) or as compressed natural gas (CNG).

Alabama-based brokerage firm Sterne Agee recently characterized the move toward natural gas and hybrid engine technology as a “game changer” for the industry, and AOL Energy cited a recent strategic partnership between Navistar and Clean Energy Fuels as an example of the “tipping point” taking effect in the NGV space.

On Friday the gas producer-backed America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) lauded the recent announcements by the manufacturers for expanded lines of heavy duty NGV products, noting that they are “answering the growing demand” for cleaner and affordable heavy-duty engines. “Broader use of natural gas to power heavy-duty vehicles offers numerous benefits,” said ANGA President Regina Hopper, citing lower operating costs, greater energy self-reliance and reduced air emissions.

Clean Energy listed major for-hire trucking fleet operators among those switching to natural gas, including Premier Transportation, Dillon Transportation LLC, C.R. England, Ryder Dedicated Logistics, Werner Enterprises and others.

The fleets generally each roll up tens of thousands of miles each year, including hundreds of thousands of gallons of CNG or LNG, a Clean Energy spokesperson said. One example is Werner Enterprises, which deploys both CNG and LNG trucks among its 7,000 tractors; combined they use more than 100 million gallons of fuel annually.

“Natural gas has clearly emerged as the most realistic alternative fuel option for the trucking industry, and we’re excited to work with a leader like Chesapeake Energy to bring natural gas to our customers,” said Navistar CEO Dan Ustian. He said Navistar’s collaborative efforts with Clean Energy and others will “benefit the transportation industry by creating product innovations and breakthroughs in natural gas technology.”

Ultimately, Ustian expects the work to accelerate natural gas “acceptance and growth” in the transportation sector.

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