Natural gas dreams

Fuel of the future?

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — It is an oft mentioned irony that a significant and now expanded natural gas pipeline runs through Sullivan County, yet almost no county residents have access to natural gas.

If the modern-day gas rush in the Marcellus Shale takes hold, the irony may be expanded, with wells pulling billions of cubic feet of the fossil fuel from beneath the soil with local residents largely cut off from the supply.

A couple of the legislators in Sullivan County would like to change that. Lawmakers David Sager and Alan Sorensen have asked county officials to look into the possibility of having a compressed natural gas filling station established in Sullivan County. If that were done, the county could convert at least part of its significant fleet of vehicles to make use of compressed natural gas (CGN).

This is not an untried technology. The New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) operates more than 700 CGN automobiles, pickup trucks and vans. According to the DOT website, “In 2007, the department displaced more than 750,000 gallons of petroleum by using CNG. [And] the Department has helped build 59 CNG stations, with 11 of them open to the public.” And, as Sorensen pointed out at a meeting at the government center on November 13, Sullivan is the only county in DOT region nine that does not presently have a CGN station.

With the price of natural gas still well below that of a like amount of gasoline, and with natural gas being the cleanest burning fossil fuel, there are plenty of incentives to consider switching to CNG vehicles, and private industry is leading the way.

The Honda Corporation manufactures the Honda Civic GX, a natural gas vehicle with a manufacturer suggested starting price of $25,090. While that’s a few thousand more than the same model with a conventional gasoline engine, there are federal tax incentives that make up for the difference.

But opening a CGN filling station in the county, whether by the DOT or anyone else, will likely face the same obstacle that has prevented residents here from getting natural gas all along: population density. Analysts say that there have not been enough people to make it profitable for a gas company, such as New York State Gas & Electric, to lay gas lines through even the most thickly populated part of the county.

A company called Corning Gas, however, has recently expressed interest in laying gas lines in Monticello. A public hearing was held on the matter in the Village of Monticello on November 10. But agreements with other providers have been in place for at least 10 years with no movement.

And the gas that residents do have access to?propane?is not a reliable automobile fuel.

So, it seems, it’s a bit premature for the county or residents to start shopping for CNG vehicles.