Natural Gas for Transportation

What is natural gas?

Natural gas is a clean-burning fuel, found in abundance in Canada as a mixture of gases in porous rock formations. It is extracted from the ground, processed to remove impurities and compressed to be stored and transported by pipeline.

Canada is one of the largest producers of natural gas in the world. Major high-pressure pipelines carry natural gas from its source to pipelines of natural-gas utility companies, which in turn take it to your home for heating or to a retail gasoline station to be compressed, stored and used to fuel vehicles.

Benefits

Environmental benefits

Natural gas burns more cleanly than gasoline or diesel fuel. Its use produces fewer toxic pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. It's also less likely to cause contamination than gasoline because natural gas is a pressurized fuel that must be contained within a sealed system, right up to the time it enters your vehicle. That means it is less likely to escape into the soil or water through careless handling, spills or evaporation.

Societal and economic benefits

Canada is one of the world's largest producers of natural gas, which means less reliance on a foreign supply of energy, while creating jobs and investment opportunities in Canada. There is no federal excise tax or territorial road taxes. other than in Manitoba which is currently the only province that charges road taxes on natural gas as a vehicle fuel.

Where to get natural gas?

Enter a location in the Electric Charging and Alternative Fuelling Stations Locator map to find a station where you can recharge or refuel your vehicle in Canada. This map will also show alternative fuel stations by using the drop down menu. Please note that the US data is only available in English.

Go With Natural Gas provides a central point of access for information on how switching to natural gas can lower emissions and reduce operating costs for truck and bus fleet owners. The website is a go-to resource for Canadian fleets interested in learning more about natural gas vehicles including the availability of factory-built trucks and buses, driving range, technology improvements, stations, emissions benefits, payback and fuel savings as well as learning about how natural gas compares to diesel in terms of energy use, properties, and safe handling.

The Natural Gas Use in the Canadian Transportation Sector Deployment Roadmap initiative, launched in March 2010, brought together stakeholders from governments, industry – including gas producers, transporters, distributors, vehicle and equipment manufacturers, and end-users – as well as representatives from environmental non-governmental organizations and academia. Facilitated by Natural Resources Canada, this process provided a platform for this broad array of stakeholders to discuss the potential for natural gas use across the medium- and heavy-duty transportation sector, explore strategies for overcoming barriers associated with its use, and develop recommendations for deployment. This Roadmap focused on expanding the use of natural gas across the transportation sector and represents an important contribution to deliberations toward a broader strategy to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

To receive a printed copy of The Natural Gas Use in the Canadian Transportation Sector Deployment Roadmap, please send your name and mailing address to: NRCan.alternative_fuels-alternative_fuels.RNCan@canada.ca

The website was made possible by a contribution from Natural Resources Canada’s ecoENERGY for Alternative Fuels program.

Natural Gas - Applications

Natural Gas Powered Cars

Several manufacturers offer vehicles that run on natural gas. Conventional gasoline vehicles can also be converted to natural gas. Either way, the premium paid can be offset by the lower price of natural gas compared with gasoline. There are about 20 000 natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in Canada.

Factory-built vehicles

There is a range of medium- and heavy-duty natural gas engine offerings available from manufacturers for refuse, transit and shuttle bus applications. The benefit of buying a natural gas vehicle straight from the manufacturer is that the fuel system, ignition control, emissions system, on-board diagnostic system and even parts of the engine will be optimized for natural gas use. This helps reduce emissions and improve fuel economy, driveability and horsepower.

New liquid natural gas (LNG) technologies are currently being developed for heavy-duty trucks.

After-market conversions

It costs about $6,000 to convert a vehicle to natural gas, depending on the number of storage cylinders in the vehicle. Your local natural gas company can provide information on different brands of equipment and on equipment providers and installers in your area. The cylinders for natural gas are added in the trunk or under the chassis of some vans and trucks, or in the back of vans or sport utility vehicles.

You may also be eligible for provincial/territorial government rebates and incentives that reduce the cost of buying or converting to a natural gas vehicle. For details, contact your local natural gas utility.

Natural Gas - Availability and Cost

Fuel and refuelling

For the service stations that sell natural gas closest to you, visit the Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance's (CNGVA's) Web site or contact your nearest CNGVA member.

Because it is less expensive than gasoline, natural gas is used as a transportation fuel mainly by high-use vehicles, such as taxis, buses and fleet cars. Natural gas is sold in kilograms at retail sites and in cubic metres or gigajoules at on-site locations. Most retail stations also post the gasoline-equivalent price (litre-gasoline equivalent, or LGE).

Refuel at home or at work

Natural gas users can also take advantage of on-site refuelling units located at a place of business or right at home. The refuelling units, known as vehicle refuelling appliances (VRAs), are certified natural gas compressors. There are several VRA system configurations available for use in commercial and residential applications. Natural gas vehicles can be refuelled overnight with a time-fill system, or in two to three minutes with a fast-fill system.

Natural Gas - Safety and Performance

Safety

If handled properly, natural gas is as safe as gasoline. Compared with gasoline, it requires a higher concentration of natural gas in air and a hotter ignition source to start combustion.

Because natural gas is stored under pressure, natural gas fuel systems are robust and hold up well in accidents. This has proven to be a safety advantage over gasoline vehicles. Federal, provincial and territorial regulations spell out the safe design, manufacture, testing and installation of natural gas vehicles.

Performance

There are few differences between natural gas and gasoline vehicles. There can be a slight drop in the maximum horsepower of converted engines under a wide-open throttle, because natural gas is less dense than gasoline and displaces some of the air that was destined for the engine. But factory-built natural gas vehicles are designed to provide similar horsepower to the gasoline versions of the same vehicle.

In colder weather, allow a warm-up period similar to that for gasoline vehicles to ensure proper engine lubrication. If you would normally use a block heater for your gasoline vehicle, use one for your natural gas vehicle.

“Go with Natural Gas” Website