United States Department of Transportation
i
Evaluation of Inland Maritime Use of LNG in UTC Region 3
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2015-07-31
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[PDF-3.59 MB]
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Edition:Final 7/1/14 - 6/30/15
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Abstract:This work assesses the characteristics of the market for natural gas and alternative vehicles within Region 3 and explores applications to inland maritime within the region. This work includes a summary of existing research outlining the market conditions necessary for supporting the proliferation of alternative fuel vehicles; describes the economic characteristics of the region; and provides a scan of existing infrastructure considerations for supplying LNG as a fuel for inland maritime activities along the Ohio River system. While the supply of natural gas is abundant within the region due to the Marcellus shale activities, existing LNG supplies may be insufficient to support long term growth. In addition to competing uses for natural gas, which serves chemical manufacturing and energy industries, a critical condition for the use of LNG as an alternative fuel is complementary refueling infrastructure, which is largely absent at current. Additionally, this paper investigates end use and life-cycle contexts for the introduction of alternative fuels in an inland maritime commercial navigation fleet. This paper characterizes fleet technology and informs longer term technology policy decisions regarding regional transportation innovation. We focus on the Mid-Atlantic Transportation Sustainability University Transportation Center (MATS UTC) Region 3, but include adjacent waterborne freight corridors that connect with other regions. We investigate domestic fuel infrastructure and shallow water navigation technologies in the region and assess the emissions reductions associated with a transition to natural gas propulsion for the inland river fleet. The study focus mainly addresses natural gas in liquefied (LNG) contexts, but the infrastructure and vessel activity analysis can be applied to compressed natural gas (CNG) by the region's vessels. Discussion of a fleet switch over to natural gas products is currently focused on LNG and motivated by the high volume of natural gas being produced from Marcellus Shale deposits within UTC region 3. This study characterizes the inland river fleet in UTC region 3 (henceforth referred to as Region 3), primarily on the Ohio, Allegheny, Monongahela, Kanawha, and Big Sandy Rivers. Based on the existing fleet composition, we consider technology performance comparisons for vessels to switch from traditional marine bunker fuels (marine gas oil/MGO) to natural gas fuels (LNG).
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