Natural Gas Fueling Station Is Part of Governor’s Executive Order on Natural Gas Conversion

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed an executive order last week creating a task force which will explore the best way to convert the state’s vehicle fleet from gasoline and diesel fuel to natural gas.  Tomblin, in making the order, says such a transfer could be a huge savings to the state’s budget.

“It’s estimated right now we could cut our fuel cost by 50%,“said Tomblin speaking on WAJR in Morgantown. “And still have the same power and performance we do right now with gasoline or diesel.“

Tomblin is among 13 governors who’ve asked the manufacturing industry to consider installing natural gas-powered engines in the heavier equipment to make them readily available for purchase.  Currently machines would have to be converted to natural gas.

Tomblin says one critical step will be to properly create natural gas refueling stations across the state.  Former Governor Bob Wise heavily advocated the natural gas stations, but may have been ahead of his time.  His ideas predated the discovery of gas in the Marcellus shale.

“This was tried once before under a previous administration, but it’s kind of like the chicken and the egg,“  Tomblin said. “We did not have the fueling stations where we needed them and therefore people were somewhat reluctant to transfer over to natural gas-powered vehicles.“

The abundance of natural gas in West Virginia coupled with the present low price of gas is fueling discussion and action on the conversions now.  Tomblin’s order pulls all of the major stakeholders together to plan how the transition would take place and where the fueling stations would be located.

I like the idea in general but for every action there is a reaction.  Will the use of natural gas as a fuel cause the rise in home heating?  Then all will bear a greater cost in home heating The cost of food went up when corn became a fuel. Why not fire the power plants with natural gas? Its cheap now but for how long?

There’s so much natural gas the bottom has dropped out. Drillers aren’t drilling in some places due to the low price. Moving to natural gas as a vehicle fuel cuts the demand for gasoline which cuts the need for imported oil.

If our need for imported oil drops that can lower the world price of oil. That means the price of gasoline goes down.

As natural gas prices recover, energy companies will drill more. That continues flooding the market with natural gas. We can use the huge supplies of our natural gas to achieve energy independence and greatly reduce the amount of money flowing to countries that don’t wish us well.

Are you tired of traders driving up the price of gasoline if a hurricane approaches the Gulf of Mexico or there is a refinery fire or a rumor of war in the Middle East? Using natural gas as a vehicle fuel will change that.

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