Exploring the Role of Natural Gas in U.S. Trucking

In this paper, the authors investigate the possibility that natural gas could be utilized to provide fuel cost savings, geographic supply diversity and environmental benefits for the heavy-duty trucking sector and whether it can enable a transition to lower carbon transport fuels. They find that a small, cost-effective intervention in markets could support a transition to a commercially sustainable natural gas heavy-duty fueling system in the state of California and that this could also advance some of the state’s air quality goals. The research shows that an initial advanced natural gas fueling system in California could facilitate the expansion to other U.S. states. Such a network would enable a faster transition to renewable natural gas or biogas and waste-to-energy pathways. Stricter efficiency standards for natural gas Class 8 trucks and regulation of methane leakage along the natural gas supply chain would be necessary for natural gas to contribute substantially to California’s climate goals as a trucking fuel. To date, industry has favored less expensive technologies that do not offer the highest level of environmental performance.

• Record URL:
  https://merritt.cdlib.org/d/ark%3A%2F13030%2Fm5zg9wv8/1/producer%2FUCD-ITS-RR-15-05.pdf
• Record URL:
  http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/themes/ucdavis/pubs/download_pdf.php?id=2424
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • A NextSTEPS White Paper.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of California, Davis

  Plug-in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Research Center, Institute of Transportation Studies
  Davis, CA  United States  95616

  Rice University

  6100 Main Street
  Houston, TX  United States  77005
• Authors:
  • Jaffe, Amy Myers
  • Dominguez-Faus, Rosa
  • 0000-0003-1010-2898
  • Lee, Allen
  • Medlock, Kenneth
  • Parker, Nathan
  • Scheitrum, Daniel
  • Burke, Andrew
  • Zhao, Hengbing
  • Fan, Yueyue
• Publication Date: 2015-2-18

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 63p
• Serial:
  • University of California, Davis. Institute of Transportation Studies. Research report
  • Publisher: University of California, Davis

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Costs; Environmental protection; Natural gas; Natural gas vehicles; Regulation; Trucking
• Uncontrolled Terms: Fueling stations
• Geographic Terms: California
• Subject Areas: Energy; Environment; Highways; I15: Environment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01561740
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UCD-ITS-RR-15-05
• Files: BTRIS, TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 27 2015 9:55AM