Final Report on National NGV Infrastructure

This report summarizes work fimded jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and by the Gas Research Institute (GRI) to (1) identi& barriers to establishing sustainable natural gas vehicle (NGV) infrastructure and (2) develop planning information that can help to promote a NGV infrastructure with self-sustaining critical maw. The need for this work is driven by the realization that demand for NGVS has not yet developed to a level that provides sufficient incentives for investment by the commercial sector in all necessary elements of a supportive infrastructure. The two major objectives of this project were: (1) to identifi and prioritize the technical barriers that may be impeding growth of a national NGV infrastructure and (2) to develop input that can assist industry in overcoming these barriers. The approach used in this project incorporated and built upon the accumulated insights of the NGV industry. The project was conducted in three basic phases: (1) review of the current situation, (2) prioritization of technical infrastructure btiiers, and (3) development of plans to overcome key barriers. An extensive and diverse list of barriers was obtained from direct meetings and telephone conferences with sixteen industry NGV leaders and seven Clean Cities/Clean Corridors coordinators. This information is filly documented in the appendix. A distillation of insights gained in the interview process suggests that persistent barriers to developing an NGV market and supporting infrastructure can be grouped into four major categories: 1. Fuel station economics 2. Value of NGVs from the owner/operator perspective 3. Cooperation necessary for critical mass 4. Commitment by investors. A principal conclusion is that an efficient and effective approach for overcoming technical barriers to developing an NGV infrastructure can be provided by building upon and consolidating the relevant efforts of the NGV industry and government. The major recommendation of this project is the establishment of an ad hoc NGV Infrastructure Working Group (NGV-I WG) to address the most critical technical barriers to NGV infrastructure development. This recommendation has been considered and approved by both the DOE and GRI and is the basis of continued collaboration in this area