Propane and Natural Gas

Propane (LPG/LNG)
Natural Gas (CNG)

Propane, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a byproduct of natural gas processing and also can be refined from petroleum. It comes in liquid form, compressed slightly and/or cooled (propane is a liquid at –44F).

• Propane refueling facilities store and dispense the fuel as a liquid. Thus refueling facility costs are relatively low. The fuel is also stored on board the vehicle in liquid form.
• Vehicles must be converted to run on propane, and EPA-certified conversion systems are available for all types of light-duty and many medium and heavy-duty vehicles. Conversion costs are about $5,000 for most light-duty vehicles. Like natural gas, it causes less wear on engines, saving maintenance costs.
• Propane is typically 15-25% cheaper than petroleum fuels in Ohio. Energy content is slightly less (5-10%) than gasoline.
• It is nearly comparable to natural gas environmentally.
• Propane is the most widely used of any American fuel historically.

More information

Natural Gas is composed mostly of methane from underground reserves or cleansed gasses from landfills and other biomass methane sources. It is the cleanest burning vehicle combustion fuel aside from hydrogen. Natural gas combustion produces less global warming emissions compared with petroleum.

• Compressed natural gas (CNG) is provided to vehicles by high-pressure (up to 3,600 psi) compression and dispensing systems, then stored on-board in high-pressure cylinders. In Ohio, CNG fuel generally costs about 20-35% less than petroleum fuels on an energy equivalent basis. CNG vehicles purchased new are more expensive while those bought used are less expensive than comparable gasoline or diesel vehicles.
• Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is nearly pure methane that has been cooled to –260F. It is particularly well suited to heavy-duty applications and offers great potential savings. Energy density and fuel economy is about 60% of petroleum diesel fuel, but the cost can be less than 50% of the cost of diesel by volume. LNG is not presently available in Ohio. However, Clean Fuels Ohio is working on a project that may lead to capture and conversion of landfill gas to LNG. Aside from other benefits, this would achieve significant additional greenhouse gas reductions by capturing methane that otherwise escape.

More information from the U.S. Dept. of Energy

CNG Refueling Locations

CNG Conversions