"Natural gas is our fuel," Hicks commented. "It's cheaper, it's clean, it's American, we have plenty of it, and we should be using it. (Compressed natural gas) is not the complete answer, but it has a proven track record. I think it's a bridge to take us to that next technology."

The issue is currently being addressed by Congress. House Bill 1835 would encourage use of natural gas as a vehicular fuel by offering incentives for fuel stations, car manufacturers and car buyers.

Pickens is the chief executive officer of Clean Energy, the nation's largest provider of compressed natural gas, or CNG, fuel. His multi-million-dollar national advertising campaign promotes CNG as being an environmentally sound fuel source that could reduce America's dependency upon foreign oil by 30 percent over 10 years.

Hicks has several business interests, including WV CNG Inc., a Wood County company that is the distributor of FuelMaker Corp. products in West Virginia and eastern Ohio. Canadian-based FuelMaker Corp. produces FuelMaker, a commercial level on-site natural gas fueling system, and the Phill, an appliance that allows owners of CNG vehicles to refill overnight from their home natural gas line.

Domestic Production

What are the perks of using CNG?

Nearly 87 percent of the natural gas consumed in the U.S. is produced domestically. The vehicles generate 60 to 90 percent less smog pollutants and 30 to 40 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline and diesel engines.

According to NGV America, a typical dedicated natural gas vehicle, or NGV, can reduce exhaust emissions of carbon monoxide by 70 percent, non-methane organic gas by 87 percent, nitrogen oxides by 87 percent and carbon dioxide by almost 20 percent below those of gasoline vehicles.

The government offers tax credits to encourage consumers to purchase the alternative energy vehicles.

NGVA reports that safety is also on the side of CNG, which dissipates into the atmosphere in the event of an accident. NGV fuel storage cylinders are stronger than gasoline fuel tanks, and natural gas has a high ignition temperature at 1,200 degrees, compared to gasoline, which has an ignition temperature of 600 degrees.

And what is the downside?

CNG cars and stations to fuel them are considerably less available. There's little money to be made selling the cars because there are no stations. Likewise, it's not profitable to operate a CNG station due to the scarcity of vehicles.

South America Leads

Automaker statistics indicate there were nearly 8.7 million natural gas vehicles on the road worldwide. More than 40 percent of those vehicles are being driven in South America, with Argentina and Brazil leading the way.

The U.S. is well down the list with an estimated 120,000 NGVs on the road today. In fact, the Honda GX is currently the only domestic, factory-made CNG vehicle distributed in America. The four-cylinder car has a starting price of $25,190 with mileage estimates of 24 miles per gallon in the city and 36 on the highway.

Spokesmen at two Honda dealers in southern West Virginia indicated they do not have the alternative fuel car in stock and have yet to receive customer requests for them.

Although West Virginia once had a small network of natural gas stations, fueling options are now few and far between.

Hicks, who owns a Honda GX, makes a regular 90-mile commute from Vienna to Cross Lanes and has access to CNG at his billboard business in Wood County and his Kanawha County hotel.

Hicks even offers free fuel to his hotel guests but has yet to have any takers.

"You can cover about 250 miles on one tank of fuel," he said. "I'm paying about $1.75 per gallon before the tax rebate and about $1.25 per gallon after the rebate.

"This makes sense for someone who commutes or for a second vehicle where you don't have to worry about running out of fuel. You can't just take off and go to Florida, though."

Dual fuel or bi-fuel kits are also available. The kits allow drivers to use the cleaner, more economical CNG while it lasts, and then flip to a second tank containing either gasoline or diesel. A two-tank car, however, equates to considerably less room for passengers or less cargo space.

Fleets Are Prospects

The biggest users of CNG are commercial and government fleets, such as those serving airports and mass transportation and school systems. Among the fleets where NGVs are already growing are transit buses, school buses, airport shuttles, refuse haulers and forklifts.

Individual consumer use is increasing in certain regions, however. As of 2008, southern California had 90 public fueling stations. Utah has a statewide network of government-subsidized CNG stations. All told, about 1,100 NGV fueling stations operate in the U.S. Of those, NGV American reports that more than one-half are available for public use.

Hicks would like to see a similar program in the Mountain State.

"I wish we could get more elected officials on board with this," he added. "People are not going to buy the cars until you have the stations. It's going to take government action to get the stations built."

Hicks was the previous owner of an Exxon station in Vienna that offered CNG. That service was eliminated, however, when the business was sold to a distributor of gasoline. "They saw CNG as competition, and they had it (the CNG service) taken out."

A spokesman at EQT Corp. said the natural gas company always is looking at ways to promote natural gas, including as a vehicular fuel.

"We're in the investigatory stage," said Kevin West, managing director of external affairs. "We're looking at areas where we operate fleets that could be operated by natural gas. We think that may be the best way to convince the public and make them feel more comfortable with using it in their personal vehicles."

West noted that large corporations such as FedEx and AT&T have announced conversion plans.

"I don't see why it couldn't work (in West Virginia)," West added. "Increasingly, we are seeing municipalities and larger companies doing it."

Cooperation Needed

The government could be more cooperative, though, according to West. While incentives are being offered, he notes that achieving the necessary certification for CNG conversion kits from the Environmental Protection Agency can be both burdensome and expensive.

The Mountain State is a "been there, done that" scenario for Frank McCullough.

With interest in six former CNG stations across the state, the Charleston man was a major player in an effort during the 1990s led by former Congressman Bob Wise, D-W.Va., that involved a cooperative effort between state government, four of the larger natural gas utilities and private business.

Special provisions by the West Virginia Public Service Commission allowed the facilities to recover their investment costs leading to an infrastructure of natural gas fueling stations around the state.

"We had about 15 stations in West Virginia," McCullough recalled. "There were enough of them so that you shouldn't have been able to run out of fuel."

In the end, McCullough said, there were simply not enough vehicles equipped for natural gas.

"If it doesn't make economic sense, it's not going to work," he said.

McCullough agreed with the Pickens plan regarding natural gas usage for large fleets.

"It can make a significant difference in a fleet situation," he said. "The economics are still there because of life-of-engine economics. The engines will last longer, they have less maintenance, and they will be significantly cleaner than any thing else on the road."

Economics Critical

Jeff Herholdt, director of the state Division of Energy, had a leadership role in the earlier effort to promote CNG usage in West Virginia.

"The issue is economics," he said. "As a state, we never had CNG vehicles on the dealers' lots for people to purchase. You need significant private-sector investment in CNG fueling stations."

Although WV CNG has sold several units, Hicks said he sees the business as an investment in the future rather than a current cash-flow generator. A small commercial FuelMaker sells for about $8,000 and can compress one gallon per hour. Phills, which sell for $5,000, compress to 3,600 pounds per square inch at a rate of one-half gallon per hour.

"There's really no return on investment now. That's the problem. I won't make any money off of this in my lifetime," he said, "but we might have something for my kids."

CNG is among the offerings of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium at West Virginia University. The program covers heavy duty, light duty and liquid natural gas, LNG, uses.

"Natural gas has been used in different forms to fuel vehicles for more than 100 years," said Bill Davis, NAFTC assistant director of operations. "All of the O.E.M.'s (Original Equipment Manufacturers) -- Ford, Chrysler and GM -- had natural gas commercial vehicles available."

While the CNG movement is expanding in the U.S. southwest, Davis said there have been practical examples in the Mountain State. He referred to the Lewis County Sheriff's Department, which was able to put additional vehicles on the road as a result of savings realized from lower maintenance and fuel costs.

The NAFTC owns a FuelMaker unit and a Honda GX used for administrative purposes, according to Davis.