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Now more than ever, New Jersey residents are struggling to make ends meet. Counties and cities are dealing with major budget cuts. Compressed natural gas costs less per gas gallon equivalent (GGE) than gasoline or diesel. Individual consumers can definitely benefit from this cost savings, but government agencies that operate large transit or refuse fleets with heavy fuel consumption can realize substantial financial benefits with CNG.
With today's increased environmental awareness, there has been a huge emphasis on the "green economy" and green jobs. CNG is one of the cleanest transportation fuels available today, and unlike most petroleum products, the majority of CNG used in the U.S. is domestically-produced. According to the U.S. Government's Energy Information Administration, the U.S. net imports of natural gas will decline from 16% in 2007 to 3% in 2030. Of the current imports, most are from Canada, a nation with strong, stable relations with the U.S. Supporting a clean, domestically-produced fuel means providing more green jobs here in the U.S.
Since almost all natural gas currently consumed in the US is also produced in North America, NGVs help reduce our dependence on foreign oil. This reduced dependence also serves to insulate us from the political issues associated with many oil producing countries. NGVAmerica, a national NGV industry trade organization, produced a valuable fact sheet on the Potential Contribution of NGVs to Displacing 35 Billion Gallons of Non-Petroleum Fuels by 2017 (pdf).
Clean burning NGVs have many environmental benefits for municipalities, states, and the global community as a whole. Switching from gasoline or diesel to CNG is a major step toward cleaner air.
Public awareness and concern about global warming and the creation of greenhouse gases has increased drastically in recent years. Fortunately, use of CNG in place of gasoline or diesel has a very positive impact on reduction of greenhouse gases as well as a multitude of other environmental benefits.
Renewable energy has become one of the hottest topics in the energy industry today. While natural gas is technically considered a fossil fuel, recent projects have demonstrated that natural gas can also be produced from agricultural waste, landfills and other sources. Biogas or bio-methane is not only renewable energy, but the capture of this methane also helps reduce greenhouse gases.
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