Compressed natural gas as a feasible replacement fuel for U.S. transportation

Abstract

There has been much attention for many years on reducing U.S. fuel imports in order to improve energy independence. The transportation sector is one of the most important components with its share of 28% of total U.S. energy consumption. In this research, compressed natural gas (CNG) is examined as an alternative fuel for the U.S. transportation sector. To be able to answer this question it is essential to understand both the supply and demand sides of the problem. This research aims to exhibit the availability and adequacy of CNG as a full or partial fuel replacement for U.S. transportation sector needs, the factors that prevent CNG from being a widely used transportation fuel, the cost–benefit of using CNG as a vehicle fuel, and feasible changes to make CNG more cost effective. In conjunction with putting forth this information for consideration, the best short- and long-term scenarios for CNG use in the transportation sector, provided through the application of analytic hierarchy process (AHP), is proposed.