What Is Natural Gas?
Natural gas is found underground where it was formed millions
of years ago as organic matter. Tremendous pressure from the overlying
rock, combined with the earth’s heat, converted the matter
into fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas. Natural
gas collects in tiny holes in underground rock and is trapped under
layers of solid rock. It’s an organic compound made up of
hydrogen and carbon and is usually referred to as a “hydrocarbon.”
Methane is the main component of natural gas, and usually makes
up over 90 percent of “pipeline quality” natural gas.
Other hydrocarbons that may be found in small amounts in natural
gas include ethane, propane, and butane.
CATA’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Program
In 1993, CATA made a commitment to alternative fuels with
a decision to replace its outdated diesel-powered fleet with buses
powered by clean compressed natural gas. This action was taken in
response to several national priorities: lowering operating costs
for essential services, improving air quality through reduced vehicular
emissions, and reducing reliance on imported fuels. CATA had an
interest, too, in being able to use fuel produced locally in Centre
County.
In 1994, as
the first step toward fulfilling this commitment, CATA ordered
sixteen CNG-powered buses from Bus Industries of America (now
Orion Bus Industries) in Oriskany, New York.
In 1995, CATA,
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Columbia
Gas of Pennsylvania joined in a cooperative effort to build a
CNG fueling station at CATA’s administrative facility.
In subsequent
years, CATA expanded its fleet three times, bringing the total
number of CNG-powered buses to 44. Additionally, a fueling facility
and three compressors were constructed on its property, which
also provide natural gas to the nearby UniMart.
Today, with
the receipt of two new 18-passenger CNG-powered Starcraft buses
in January 2005, CATA’s entire fleet is fueled entirely
by natural gas. CATA has now been named the first transit authority
on the East Coast to have replaced its fleet with one operated
entirely by alternative fuel.
“As a pioneer in the use of compressed natural gas buses,
CATA has had a very positive experience,” says CATA’s
General Manager, Hugh Mose. “Not only have the buses performed
well, but the response from the general public has been overwhelmingly
favorable. In my 25-plus years of experience in public transportation,
I cannot think of an initiative that has created such a positive
response in the community as the introduction of CNG-powered buses
at CATA.”
Why Natural Gas?
Traditional transportation fuels such as gasoline and diesel have
been used in the United States for decades. However
growing air pollution problems in many cities, combined with the
desire to reduce America’s dependence on imported oil, is
causing many transit authorities across the country to reevaluate
their current choices of transportation fuels. Natural gas is
a transportation fuel that is economical, burns cleaner than diesel
and is produced right here in the United States. Not only that,
much of the natural gas used in State College is produced locally
in Centre County.
While CATA cannot claim
that the use of compressed natural gas as a vehicle fuel has resulted
in any cost savings, Mr. Mose asserts that “I can say without
reservation that CATA’s CNG buses produce only a fraction
of the emissions of the diesel buses they’ve replaced.”
CATA continues
to partner with local businesses and organizations to explore
alternative fuels. In 2004, CATA and Penn State began working
with Penn State’s Pennsylvania Transportation Institute
(PTI) on a broad research initiative aimed at researching hydrogen
fuel cells in vehicles and the related benefits. As a result of
the project, as many as three of CATA's buses operating on campus
will be converted to ones running on a hydrogen and compressed
natural gas blend. The groups involved are exploring the emergence
of hydrogen as a publicly accepted transportation fuel and evaluating
the costs and efficiencies of the fuel as compared to gasoline
and other alternative fuels.
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