Natural gas powered vehicles fail to reduce greenhouse emissions

Fuelling medium and heavy vehicles with natural gas does not lower lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, unless it is used to generate electricity for battery electric Class 8 vehicles, according to a new study.

A paper written by Carnegie Mellon University researchers reveals natural gas has a number of environmental benefits when used to power heavy vehicles such as reduced air pollution and lower operating noise. However, lower GHG is not one of them. Only if used to generate electrity to power electric cars, it can then reduce GHG emissions by more than 31%.

The paper, “Comparison of Life Cycle Greenhouse Gases from Natural Gas Pathways for Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles,” is the first in a series of studies sponsored by the Fuels Institute and NATSO Foundation evaluating the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.

“Natural gas as a transportation fuel continues to gain significant attention from policymakers, fuel retailers and fleet owners, in particular,” said John Eichberger, executive director of the Fuels Institute.

“We co-sponsored the study to provide objective analysis of the comprehensive effect of natural gas on the market and the environment, and to provide some insight into the most effective strategies for infrastructure and vehicle deployment,” he added.

Researchers are examining the potential of natural gas for the transportation market, as well as providing insight into where to install natural gas infrastructure.

“The number of truck stops and travel plazas investing in natural gas continues to grow as commercial fleets increase their adoption rate of natural gas-fueled trucks,” said NATSO Foundation President Lisa Mullings.