America's Future

LNG: An Alternative Fuel Source for America’s Future

Introduction
Recently, the United States has experienced a boom in natural gas exploration and extraction. This has come about mainly because of the discovery of huge natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale Formation, an area of bedrock that stretches throughout much of the northeastern Appalachians and covers states like Pennsylvania and New York. Thus, the discovery of these reservoirs of natural gas in the region (and in other parts of the U.S.) have led to increased extraction and production of natural gas as an alternative fuel source. Natural gas as a natural resource has several benefits but it also exhibits some drawbacks. LNG (liquefied natural gas) has been an especially hot topic as

oil consumption goes to consumption of diesel fuel for large trucking operations across the country.2 One of the primary targets, then, of the incorporation of LNG as a major fuel source has been the trucking industry. Our country relies heavily on trucking for the shipment of many of our goods, food, and other vital resources. Thus, if the projected of trucking fuels for the future could be improved, our nation would save billions on foreign oil expenses and other costs.
Because LNG is available here in the United States, Americans could potentially reduce their reliance on foreign oil by switching to LNG, thus becoming more independent in energy production. LNG is also quite a bit cheaper than diesel overall and it is the only fuel source (up to this point) that is competitive with diesel in the amount of energy it can supply per tank of gas. LNG only occupies about sixty percent of the volume that a tank of diesel would occupy and it is more energy-packed than its close relative, CNG (compressed natural gas).2 Thus, a tank of LNG can supply enough fuel for a large truck to run about 400 miles before having to