U.S. Surpasses ‘Major Milestone’ for Alternative Fueling Stations

Business News/Analysis, Deliver Dispense, Infrastructure

August 17, 2015

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by Joseph Bebon (Next Gen Transportation News) With little fanfare, the U.S. reached the 20,000 mark for the number of alternative fueling stations operating throughout the nation back in May, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The agency soon after posted a blog dubbing the benchmark a “major milestone,” and the network of alt-fuel infrastructure has only continued to grow ever since.

In fact, the latest DOE data at press time shows there are about 21,300 fueling stations in the country offering electricity, propane autogas, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, biodiesel (B20 and above) or E85 (up to 85% ethanol). That total includes around 17,500 public stations and almost 3,800 private ones.

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At press time, the Station Locator indicates there are the following number of public and private stations for each fuel type when most search criteria are applied: Electricity: 12,334; Propane: 3,292; E85: 2,956; CNG: 1,549; Biodiesel: 729; LNG: 115; and Hydrogen: 41.

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Considering gasoline stations are located on just about every other block in some regions of the country, could alternative fuels eventually take up a much larger chunk of the transportation fuels sector?

According to the American Petroleum Institute website, there were about 153,000 service stations across the U.S. selling gasoline as of the end of February 2014.

“It is likely that alternative fueling stations will not need to reach these numbers to achieve widespread use,” says Smith. “Many fleets that use or could use alternative fuel vehicles fill up at their own facilities and do not rely heavily on public fueling infrastructure. Plug-in electric vehicle drivers do more than 80 percent of charging at home or work.” READ MORE

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