CNG/LNG

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    OSU Tech/Money Backs Ohio Start-up Bringing CNG to Everyone

    We have a chicken and egg problem with CNG (compressed natural gas) vehicles: you need vehicles with engines converted, or designed, to run on CNG, and you need a way to fuel up. Detroit is listening–they’re coming out with a flurry of new CNG vehicles this year, including the Ford F-150 pickup truck. The only thing holding it all back seems to be a way to keep the tank filled. Americans have always been of the mindset that you head on down to the local filling station or these days, convenience store, to fill ‘er up. Filling stations are slowly beginning to offer CNG (and along interstate highways, LNG for big rigs), but it’s not happening nearly fast enough.

    Since you can burn the very same natural gas in your vehicle that you use to heat your home and cook with, wouldn’t it be great if there were a box you could hang on your garage wall that enables you to compress the gas from the local utility company to be used at home–just fill ‘er up at home? Wow, that would be awesome–and that’s just what an Ohio start-up company, using technology innovated at Ohio State University, is doing. With a $1 million investment from OSU, Simple-Fill is launching a very cool solution for businesses and homeowners that will enable them to use their existing natural gas hookup to fill up their CNG vehicles. Imagine never having to stop by the convenience store again (except to pick up a lottery ticket)…
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    RBN Energy’s 2014 Predictions & the Marcellus Connection

    RBN Energy, headed by energy industry luminary Rusty Braziel (formerly an executive with Bentek and veteran of several large oil and gas companies), recently proffered its Top Ten Energy Prognostications for 2014. RBN is based in Houston, but a number of this year’s predictions from RBN are either directly or indirectly related to the Marcellus and Utica Shale, which tells you the stunning impact our northeast energy market is having on the world energy market.

    Below is the abbreviated list of RBN’s “top 10” predictions for 2014–the Chinese Year of the Horse. Bear in mind what Rusty says, even as a prognostication, most (including MDN) believe as the gospel truth…
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    ACCF to DOE Sec. Moniz: Please Hurry Up LNG Export Approvals

    On Monday, the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) sent a letter to Dept. of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to encourage him to continue approving new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, and to “goose him along” and get him to speed up the process (full copy of the letter embedded below). To be fair, DOE has now approved five such facilities which will allow the export of LNG to countries without a free trade agreement with the U.S. However, there are another 21 applications waiting to be reviewed–and it took 65 days between the last two approvals (way too long).

    ACCF respectfully requests Moniz to hurry it up in their letter, and provides him with compelling arguments for why more LNG exports should go forward…
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    21 LNG Fueling Stations Coming to NY in Next 5 Years, Maybe

    Recently MDN brought you the story that New York State is the only state in the union that does not allow liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and fueling stations (see LNG Storage/Fueling Stations Latest Anti-Drilling Target in NY). Such facilities were banned after a tragic accident at a Staten Island LNG facility killed 40 workers in the early 1970s. Wacko anti-drillers oppose building new ones because, well, they’re wacko. Calmer heads, however have prevailed and the Dept. of Environment Conservation expects to finalize new regulations early next year to allow construction of LNG storage/fueling facilities that can super-cool and store natural gas in a liquefied state.

    Why is it important that NY get with the program? Why do we need LNG anyway? Because entire trucking fleets–like that of UPS–are converting from diesel to LNG because it’s cleaner burning and cheaper. LNG is a true win/win, regardless of what the ninny nanny naysayers say. Once the new regs are in place, the DEC estimates NY will see 21 new LNG facilities built over the next five years…
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    PA DEP Sec. Abruzzo Announces Winners of $3M in CNG Grants

    Part of the Pennsylvania Act 13 law, passed in early 2012, is a provision called an “impact fee” collected from Marcellus drillers (ultimately from landowners, because fees and taxes are always passed down the line). The first year the fee was collected it brought in over $200 million. The so-called fee is really 60% fee and 40% tax, as we’ve written about many times before. Why? Because 60% of the money collected stays in the communities impacted by drilling–for use with first responders, roads, etc. The other 40% is what MDN calls “walking around money”–money that’s spent by politicians in Harrisburg to curry favor with voters (i.e. vote buying). A lot of that money goes to southeastern PA (Philly area) where there is no drilling–but such was the sleazy political price to be paid in order to pass the legislation. Yes it stinks–but it is what it is.

    If there’s any good use for a teeny tiny sliver of the 40% walking around money, it happened yesterday in Scranton, PA, where the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Sec. Chris Abruzzo was on hand at the Cabot Oil & Gas’ “CNG Celebration” event at Johnson College (see our companion story today about the event). Abruzzo was there to announce the list of grant winners who will share in $3 million of Act 13 money to purchase, refit or supply filling stations for vehicles to run on compressed natural gas (CNG). By handing out this seed money, Gov. Tom Corbett hopes to encourage more companies and organizations to switch to cheaper and much less polluting natural gas as a power source. Below is the DEP announcement and list of winners of this year’s grant. The DEP will be back next year with even more money to award. They start accepting applications on Saturday…
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    Cabot’s Big CNG Celebration at Johnson College in Scranton, PA

    Yesterday Cabot Oil & Gas held a “CNG Celebration” at Johnson College in Scranton, PA. Unfortunately MDN could not be on hand to help celebrate. However, we do have a couple of stories to bring you from that event.

    The purpose of the event was several-fold: announce Johnson College’s curriculum expansion with new courses in compressed natural gas (CNG) technology and eventually a certification (with financial and technical assistance from Cabot); PA DEP Sec. Chris Abruzzo was on hand to announce $3 million in grants to businesses and organizations to purchase or retrofit vehicles to run CNG (see our companion story today); welcome the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s new executive director, David Spigelmyer; and show off some impressive big trucks and other vehicles running CNG. “Celebration” is an appropriate word that about covers it!…
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    New Trend? LNG for Domestic Transportation Bursts on the Scene

    Is LNG used for domestic transportation in the U.S. about to take off in a big way? We’re not yet sure, but one thing is for sure: there are a number of companies investing in and talking about just that. MDN ran another LNG story today about a new initiative from GDF SUEZ called the advanceLNG Project (see Potential New Market for Marcellus/Utica Gas: LNG for Use in U.S.). And then–seeming out of nowhere–another LNG story. Boone Pickens’ Clean Energy Fuels company is partnering with with Ferus Natural Gas Fuels and GE to build “micro LNG” plants in five states, including Ohio.

    So, what’s a micro LNG plant? We explain…
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