Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVW.Va. takes serious look at natural gas vehicles

A workshop presenting the case for natural gas vehicles (NGV) drew in more than 150 people to a full-day event in Charleston.

Vehicles powered by natural gas have been around for years, but low natural gas prices have spiked interest in developing and spreading the technology. According to materials from NGVAmerica, there are nearly 5 million natural gas vehicles in service worldwide.

The focus of the workshop was primarily on businesses that utilize a fleet of automobiles. Stephe Yborra, director of market analysis, education and communication for the Clean Vehicle Education Foundation, said by focusing first on fleet operations, the message and opportunities for wider uses of natural gas vehicles can be increased as well.

"Once you build infrastructure, consumers build confidence," Yborra said. "If vehicles are a big part of your business, look to see if there are options. There are a lot more options than many people are aware of."

Yborra said West Virginia was one of a number of stops selected for the workshop because of numerous factors that make it an attractive place to begin spreading use of natural gas vehicles.

"West Virginia is right in the middle of the Marcellus shale," Yborra said. "You've got a lot of natural gas here. There's a need to create economic development, certainly, and the population of the state generally tends to be along certain major corridors, which works pretty well."

Yborra said the natural gas extraction industry is interested in the products, and some are fueling the start-up of new stations. Fleet operations that also provide a retail outlet for natural gas is one of the ways to build consumer confidence in the passenger vehicle market.

Corky DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association, said drillers are always looking for new ways to use natural gas. The search has become more active with increasing gas availability.

"We start to want to find uses for natural gas that maybe we haven't had before because of the fluctuations in the gas market," DeMarco said. "Today, with the shales and prolific productions, and the high demand and low cost, it makes perfect sense to start to look to other resources or options as ways to use natural gas."

Kelly Bragg, energy development specialist at the West Virginia Division of Energy, said nearly 170 people attended the conference. Though the material was mostly technical and in-depth, many people stayed because of an intense interest in the technology, she said.

"My sense is that there is a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff going on that I will probably never know about until a station springs up. I think there is a lot going on behind the scenes," Bragg said.