USA: Clean Energy Supports 2011 NAT GAS Act

A bill introduced last week in the U.S. Senate — the NAT GAS Act of 2011 — would provide increased support for the movement to deploy large numbers of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in the United States, according to Clean Energy Fuels Corp.

The bi-partisan-sponsored legislation would provide a five-year extension of tax credit incentives for the purchase of NGVs. The bill would also encourage manufacturers to produce dedicated NGVs.

Introduced by Senators Harry Reid, Richard Burr, Robert Menendez and Saxby Chambliss, the proposed legislation is driven by the need for America to quickly reduce its dependence on foreign oil while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions and urban pollution, Clean Energy said in its statement.

To achieve these goals, the bill’s objective is to accelerate the production and use of natural gas-fueled vehicles. The legislation would expand the NGV tax incentive to help offset an NGV vehicle’s incremental cost, subject to caps depending upon vehicle size, the statement  notes.

“The backing by congress is critical for our nation to succeed in its goal of utilizing domestic natural gas instead of imported petroleum, and we applaud efforts to achieve this important objective,” said Andrew J. Littlefair, Clean Energy Chief Executive.

Littlefair went on to say that there was about eight million Class 5 through 8 heavy-duty trucks in the U.S.

“These trucks range from delivery to refuse trucks to over-the-road 18-wheelers and use upwards of 30 billion gallons of fuel annually. Helping the owners of these vehicles replace their diesel trucks with trucks running on CNG or LNG can have an immediate, measurable effect. In addition, we believe that moving America’s heavy-duty truck fleet from diesel to natural gas will have the effect of creating over 400,000 direct and indirect new jobs over the next five years,” he said.

Currently priced up to $1.50 or more per gallon lower than diesel or gasoline, the use of natural gas fuel reduces costs significantly for vehicle and fleet owners, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions up to 30% in light-duty vehicles and 23% in medium to heavy-duty vehicles, Clean Energy said.

Additionally, natural gas is a secure North American energy source with 98% of the natural gas consumed produced in the U.S. and Canada, the U.S. company added.