The Metric System Being Forced on NGV Consumers?
March 3, 2014
Utilization of natural gas as a motor fuel has seen a massive increase over the past five years. This is due to stable and affordable pricing due to production of shale gas paired with high petroleum prices and increasing emission regulations. As a result, new networks of natural gas vehicle (NGV) refueling stations are being established.
In 1994, the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) established the gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) as the official unit of sale for compressed natural gas (CNG). The GGE is consumer friendly because it represents an amount of CNG which has the same energy content as a gallon of gasoline. Therefore, if your car will travel 20 miles on a gallon of gasoline it will also travel 20 miles on a GGE of CNG. The gallon equivalent standard puts natural gas into a unit which is familiar to the consumer and allows for an easy cost comparison between natural gas and traditional motor fuels.
In the past two to three years, an increasing number of long-haul trucking companies have begun transitioning to liquefied natural gas (LNG) trucks. To accommodate this transition, Cummins-Westport has begun producing a 12 liter heavy duty LNG engine in Jamestown, NY and Clean Energy, Blu LNG and Shell are building nationwide LNG refueling infrastructure.
Because LNG only displaces diesel, it is sold by the diesel gallon equivalent (DGE). In 2013, the Clean Vehicles Education Foundation (CVEF) in conjunction with the NGV industry submitted a request to NCWM to adopt a standard definition of a DGE. It was thought that this approach would be embraced by NCWM since they established the gallon equivalent concept twenty years earlier.
On January 19, 2014 the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) dropped a bomb shell on the industry by announcing a recommendation to not only deny the DGE proposal but also to repeal the GGE standard and force the metric system on consumers purchasing natural gas motor fuel. Under this proposal, consumers would have to buy natural gas at the pump by the kilogram which would be discriminatory because gasoline and diesel are not sold in metric units. Additionally, it would also be unnecessary because natural gas is currently sold in gallon equivalents, a standard which has been embraced by consumers and industry stakeholders.
The industry is rallying to fight this proposal because if implemented it would create a formidable barrier to NGV adoption by creating chaos and confusion in fuel sales. Furthermore, it would create a catastrophic cost to natural gas station operators as most dispensers, at a cost of $70,000 a piece, would have to be replaced. The NCWM's NGV Steering Committee is working to come up with language which is acceptable to both industry and weights and measures officials. This group's final recommendation will be announced the week of March 10th and will then be voted on by two other committees: Specifications and Tolerances and Laws and Regulations. However, even if the Steering Committee's recommendation is favorable, this process must be closely monitored since the final vote on how natural gas may be legally sold in the U.S. will take place during NCWM's annual meeting the week of July 14th in Detroit, Michigan.
It is imperative that NGV consumers and industry stakeholders make their support for gallon equivalent units known not only to the NCWM but also to their local state Department of Weights and Measures.
Key NCWM officials which comments should be addressed:
John Gaccione, Chairman
NCWM Board of Directors
1135 M Street, Suite 110
Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
jpg4@westchestergov.com
Raymond Johnson, Chairman
Laws and Regulations Committee
1135 M Street, Suite 110
Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
rjohnson@nmda.nmsu.edu
Brett Gurney, Chairman
Specifications and Tolerances Committee
1135 M Street, Suite 110
Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
To convert price/liter to price/gallon the consumer would multiply the liter price by 3.78541. Going in the other direction, converting from price/gallon to price/liter the gallon price would by multiplied by 0.26417217685799. There's an iPhone app for that for 99¢ or a free one for Android. Or the NCWM could treat all vehicle fuels fairly by using the same units for all.
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