Americas News
"Tremendous Potential" for LNG Conversions, but There Are Challenges
Maritime company officials and public officials are eying the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkers for river boats, tugs, and towboats along an Eastern U.S. waterway system, but there are challenges to the adoption of the fuel, according to local newspaper the Observer-Reporter.
The plan would allow for the use of the fuel along inland waterways that run from the Port of Pittsburgh, which is the 13th busiest U.S. port, through parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Industry and government players discussed steps toward LNG adoption at a forum convened by the Clean Fuels/Clean Rivers consortium.
Tom Risley of Pittsburgh-based Life Cycle Engineering, who studied the mater for the consortium, said the growing extraction of natural gas in the U.S. means plenty of the fuel is available at prices well below the cost of the diesel fuel that vessels on the waterway use now.
"The good news is it's there, the good news is we can get it up (out of the ground), but can we use it?" he said.
Participants in the forum said the economic and environmental advantages of LNG are compelling, but the construction of infrastructure for LNG fuelling, as well as safe handling of the fuel in small craft, will present challenges.
David Kailbourne, CEO of REV LNG, a trucking operator that uses LNG fuel and builds LNG and compressed natural gas (CNG) fuelling stations, said it might be possible to use trucks to bunker vessels.
"Like everything in LNG industry, it's baby steps, it's going to be incremental," he said .
One speaker pointed to Buquebus's LNG-powered ferry in Argentina, which uses modular "Cryobox" technology for fuelling, as a possible model.
Already, a few operators in the U.S., including Harvey Gulf International Marine LLC (Harvey Gulf) and Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE) are adopting LNG bunkers.
