The New York Times headlined a major story this week with “Natural Gas Becomes Fuel for the Long Haul.” In the article, written by reporters Diane Cardwell and Clifford Krause, points out that the “momentum of natural gas for transportation is accelerating” with United Parcel Service preparing to announce it will move 800 of its 18-wheelers from diesel to natural gas by “2014 up from 112 now.”
The article said Cummins, a major manufacturer, is building the engines which will run on Liquified Natural Gas.
“The move,” the article said, “could also cut the country’s oil import bill. Right now, about eight million heavy and medium-weight trucks consume three million barrels of oil a day while traveling the nation’s highways. That is nearly 15 percent of the total national daily consumption and the equivalent of three-fourths of the amount of oil imported from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Roughly two-thirds of the diesel used as transportation fuel nationwide feeds three million 18-wheelers, the main trucks hauling goods over long distances.”
Cardwell and Kause reminded their readers that building out the refueling infrastructure for natural gas vehicles is just beginning. They wrote:
“As of May 2012, only 53 L.N.G. fueling stations were in the United States, more than two-thirds concentrated in California, along with 1,047 compressed natural gas stations around the country, according to the Energy Department. In comparison, there were 157,000 fueling stations selling gasoline.”
Getting America’s 8.5 million heavy-duty trucks running on domestic natural gas rather than imported diesel has been a cornerstone of the Pickens Plan since 2008.
“If the New York Times has come around to recognize the value of getting on our own resources,” said T. Boone Pickens, “even the United States Congress might understand the value of helping reduce our dependence on OPEC oil.”
To read the entire article, click HERE
— The Pickens Team