Fairbanks natural gas and tote pioneer LNG fuel in Alaska: two firms in it for the long haul, by land and sea.

• Author: Swagel, Will
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

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The rapid growth of natural gas production in the United States is causing fuel-dependent industries to calculate the cost and benefits of converting diesel-fueled equipment to natural gas--which can save a third or more in fuel costs. Because natural gas burns cleaner than diesel, running on liquefied natural gas, or LNG, can also help establish a company's "green" credentials and may qualify them for tax breaks or other subsidies.

While short-haul vehicles generally run on compressed natural gas, or CNG, LNG is being seen as the fuel for long-haul truckers and even ships because more energy can be stored on board. LNG is natural gas which has been cooled to temperatures of minus two hundred degrees Fahrenheit or even lower. It is generally stored in tanks that work like high-tech thermos bottles, reducing the need for additional refrigeration to maintain the gas as a liquid.

Almost daily, two trucks powered on LNG--and hauling the same--run about 350 miles along the Parks Highway between Fairbanks and Anchorage. Passing such trucks on the road, a motorist would see nothing different from a usual diesel-powered big rig. Except the fuel for this truck costs a third less. And fuel costs are the largest line item across the transportation industry.

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Demonstration Project

"Because we are in the production business of liquefied natural gas, we're looking to expand our market into the transportation industry," said Dan Britton, CEO and president of Fairbanks Natural Gas, which owns both trucks. "We wanted to prove and have proved that the [LNG] technology works in Alaska."

Fairbanks Natural Gas, LLC (FNG) is the natural gas utility providing service to Alaska's second city since 1998. FNG purchases natural gas from the Cook Inlet area and trucks it to Fairbanks, where the company supplies gas to homes and businesses.

FNG's two T-800 Kensworth trucks were built for LNG using Cummins/ Westport Innovations technology, which developed a number of engine models that run on various types natural gas. Carlile Transportation Systems supplies the drivers, who have reported few operational differences between LN6 and diesel-fueled trucks, said Gene Carlson, Carlile's vice president of trucking operations, based in Anchorage.

"They say there is a little less horsepower because you lose a bit in the conversion to natural gas," Carlson says. "But everything else about it is a very standard Kenworth."

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