Vehicles

A home or office-based fueling device for natural gas vehicles (NGV) that would dramatically speed up the fueling time and lower the cost is being pursued jointly by a unit of General Electric Corp. (GE), Chart Industries and researchers at the University of Missouri.

Noting the deals will help move closer to creating a national highway fueling network for natural gas vehicles (NGV), Clean Energy Fuels Corp. said that it has inked fuel supply deals with five trucking fleets that transport products for some of the nation’s largest and most well-known brands. The five will use compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplied by Clean Energy from existing and new fueling stations for CNG and from Clean Energy stations serving LNG. Clean Energy said the trucking fleets are geographically diverse, but share a common goal of reducing their fuel costs and operating more cleanly. The companies are: Saddle Creek Logistics Services, Lakeland, FL; Premier Transportation, Atlanta, GA; Hoopes Turf Farm, Transportation Division, Ulysses, PA; Lily Transportation , Needham, MA; and Lancaster Foods, Jessup, MD.

North America’s strong natural gas supply outlook is thanks to what has taken place below ground: horizontal drilling with long laterals and hydraulic fracturing well stimulation. However, what is happening above ground will determine to what extent these efforts will benefit the country’s energy security.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp.’s BAF Technologies Inc. unit expanded its compressed natural gas (CNG) product line to include Ford vehicles equipped with the BAF proprietary bi-fuel CNG systems. The new line is to be available this May, including bi-fuel Ford E-250/350 vans and F-250/350 trucks. BAF also announced that it was the first CNG vehicle upfitter in the nation to be named a Ford-qualified vehicle modifier for gaseous fuels. The pickup trucks will be available in both 10 and 20 gasoline gallon-equivalent natural gas fueling packages.

A single bill that would change West Virginia’s regulation of Marcellus Shale drilling survived crossover day in the West Virginia legislature Wednesday, while two others failed to make it out of the state’s House of Delegates.

Three experienced state energy officials were selected by Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Corbett on Tuesday to helm the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and another was tapped as the state’s first Energy Executive.

Truck traffic on Pennsylvania roads that is generated by Marcellus Shale drilling operations has cost the state $30-35 million more than the industry is providing for road repairs, according to a report by the state’s Department of Transportation (DOT).

Encana Natural Gas Inc. has opened a compressed natural gas fueling station in Coushatta, LA, its first, to serve the company’s fleet of vehicles in Red River Parish. Starting next year the Encana Corp. subsidiary expects to offer the station’s fueling service to other corporate fleets in the region. The company said plans to open its next four natural gas fueling stations, one in each of the states of Wyoming and Colorado and two in Western Canada next year.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has signaled that a vote on energy legislation — largely focused on oil spill safety, natural gas vehicles, home energy retrofits and possibly a renewable electricity standard (RES) — will be delayed until after the November elections, but energy officials don’t expect to see an energy bill out of Congress this year and maybe not even next year.