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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (3 results)

  • Article
Policy Briefs (2018)

The emergence of natural gas (NG) as an abundant, inexpensive fuel in the United States has highlighted the possibility that it could play a significant role in the transition to low carbon fuels. It is often cited as a “bridge” to low carbon fuels in the transportation sector. Major corporations are already investing billions of dollars to build NG fueling infrastructure to expand its use in U.S. trucking fleets.

In California, NG fueling infrastructure is expanding, especially in and around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the use of NG-fueled medium- and heavy-duty fleets is currently on an upswing. The state is relying in part on the development and use of alternative fuels such as renewable natural gas (RNG) and hydrogen, which have low greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions, to meet its climate change and air quality goals.

This policy brief summarizes findings from the research project which examines how NG infrastructure can be economically and technologically synergistic for both NG and RNG in the near term, and for RNG and other renewables such as hydrogen in the long term. In particular, it examines optimum paths for developing infrastructure in the near term that will accommodate alternative fuels once they become available at the commercial scale. The original design of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) provides time for the development of advanced, near-zero technologies. The research considers the use of LCFS credits in its analysis.

View the NCST Project Webpage

    Cover page: Current Natural Gas Infrastructure Can Accommodate Future Conversion to Near-Zero Transportation Technology
    • Article
    White Papers (2019)
    The recent emergence of natural gas as an abundant, inexpensive fuel in the United States could prompt a momentous shift in the level of natural gas utilized in the transportation sector. The cost advantage of natural gas vis-à-vis diesel fuel is particularly appealing for vehicles with a high intensity of travel and thus fuel use. Natural gas is already a popular fuel for municipal and fleet vehicles such as transit buses and taxis. In this paper, we investigate the possibility that natural gas could be utilized to provide fuel cost savings, geographic supply diversity and environmental benefits for the heavy-duty trucking sector and whether it can enable a transition to lower carbon transport fuels. We find that a small, cost-effective intervention in markets could support a transition to a commercially sustainable natural gas heavyduty fueling system in the state of California and that this could also advance some of the state’s air quality goals. Our research shows that an initial advanced natural gas fueling system in California could facilitate the expansion to other U.S. states. Such a network would enable a faster transition to renewable natural gas or biogas and waste-to-energy pathways. Stricter efficiency standards for natural gas Class 8 trucks and regulation of methane leakage along the natural gas supply chain would be necessary for natural gas to contribute substantially to California’s climate goals as a trucking fuel. To date, industry has favored less expensive technologies that do not offer the highest level of environmental performance.
      Cover page: Exploring the Role of Natural Gas in U.S. Trucking (Revised Version)
      • Article
      Research Reports (2017)

      The emergence of natural gas as an abundant, inexpensive fuel in the United States has highlighted the possibility that natural gas could play a significant role in the transition to low carbon fuels. Natural gas is often cited as a “bridge” to low carbon fuels in the transportation sector. Major corporations are already investing billions of dollars to build infrastructure to feed natural gas into the U.S. trucking industry and expand the use of natural gas in fleets. In the state of California, natural gas fueling infrastructure is expanding, especially in and around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The use of natural gas fueled medium and heavy duty fleets is currently on an upswing. The authors examine the precise natural gas infrastructure that is economically and technologically synergistic for both natural gas and renewable natural gas in the near-term, and alternative fuels like renewable natural gas (RNG) and hydrogen in the long term. In particular, the authors examine optimum paths for developing infrastructure in the near-term that will accommodate alternative fuels once they become available at the commercial scale. The original design of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) provides time for the development of advanced, near zero technologies. The authors consider the credits from the LCFS in our analysis.

      View the NCST Project Webpage

        Cover page: The Potential to Build Current Natural Gas Infrastructure to Accommodate the Future Conversion to Near-Zero Transportation Technology
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