Natural gas is a domestically produced, clean-burning alternative fuel.  Compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) have been used for decades to fuel light-duty and heavy-duty natural gas vehicles.  In our region, Entergy has four vehicles on the road fueled by CNG. 

For more information on natural gas vehicles, visit our Natural Gas Vehicles page. 

What is Natural Gas?

Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons, predominantly methane (CH₄). As delivered through the pipeline system, it also contains hydrocarbons such as ethane and propane and other gases such as nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and water vapor.  As a vehicle fuel, natural gas is used in either a compressed gaseous (compressed natural gas, CNG) or liquefied (liquefied natural gas, LNG) state. 

Natural gas has a high octane rating and excellent properties for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. It is non-toxic, non-corrosive, and non-carcinogenic. It presents no threat to soil, surface water, or groundwater. 

Natural gas already accounts for approximately one quarter of the energy used in the United States. Of this, about one third goes to residential and commercial uses, one third to industrial uses, and one third to electric power production. Only about one tenth of one percent is currently used for transportation fuel.  

Courtesy of NREL

Benefits of Natural Gas:

The interest in natural gas as an alternative transportation fuel stems mainly from its inherent clean-burning qualities, its domestic resource base, and its commercial availability.  Using CNG and LNG as vehicle fuels increases energy security, paves the way for fuel cell vehicles, and improves public health and the environment.  

Additionally, American infrastructure already includes a vast natural gas distribution system, which can quickly and economically distribute natural gas to and from almost any location in the lower 48 states. Gas is distributed between and within states by 300,000 miles of transmission pipelines along a system that also includes thousands of delivery, receipt, and interconnection points; hundreds of storage facilities; and more than 50 points for exporting and importing natural gas.  

Incentives:

Many federal and state incentives encourage use of natural gas as an alternative fuel.  Regionally, Entergy offers preliminary feasibility studies for CNG refueling stations and vendor selection on a case-by-case basis.  For more information, see our Incentives page.  

Additional Information:

For further reading on CNG & LNG, Benefits, Production and Distribution of Natural Gas visit http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/natural_gas.html.

For further reading on Natural Gas Vehicles visit http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/natural_gas.html.   

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles Data Center (http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/)