Natural gas can also be used as a fuel for cars, trucks, rail locomotives, and ships. For vehicles designed to use gasoline or diesel fuel, this requires a conversion. Gas usage by natural gas vehicles (NGVs) is currently very small, totaling less than 51 Bcf (0.051 Tcf) per year in the U.S., which is under 0.2% of total usage in 2019. However, as gas resources in the U.S. look robust, some in the industry have suggested that the U.S. should invest in converting vehicles as a means of reducing dependence on foreign oil and reducing carbon emissions from the transportation sector.
Because of the lack of public natural gas refilling stations in the U.S., NGVs tend to work best when they begin and end their day in the same location and are not too many miles away from their home at any time during their journey. Thus, fleet vehicles and busses are excellent candidates for NGV conversion. Though the shorter range of NGVs and lack of refueling infrastructure has historically limited adoption by smaller customers. At the same time, the proliferation of electric passenger vehicles, the ease of plugging in an electric vehicle at home, and the rapid growth of refilling infrastructure are also competing to keep smaller customers away from NGVs.
Nevertheless, use of natural gas for long haul trucking, locomotives, and ships may become economic in the near future. And while the overall number of vehicles converted to use natural gas is still very small, this number could grow in future years. The EIA projects that natural gas usage by vehicles will grow by more than 15% per year over the next 25 years.