Christina Williams of the Portland Business Journal discusses a new grant program which will work to advance natural gas vehicle technology. The grant program is being jointly run by Oregon State University and Colorado State University researchers.
“A researcher at Oregon State University’s Cascades campus will lead a research initiative on new technology for natural gas vehicle fueling with the help of $700,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The project will focus on a vehicle-based natural gas refueling system what would use the vehicle engine to compress the natural gas.
Chris Hagen, a professor in OSU-Cascades’ growing energy engineering management program, will lead the project with support from Colorado State University…
It was given as part of a $30 million, 13-project push by the federal ARPA-E program to find new ways to use natural gas called Methane Opportunities for Vehicular Energy.
“These projects could transform America’s energy infrastructure and economy by utilizing domestic energy sources to power our vehicles, reducing our reliance on imported oil, and increasing American energy security,” said Daniel Poneman, U.S. deputy secretary of energy, in a press release.
The research at OSU-Cascades is developing an engine that both powers the vehicle and compresses natural gas for storage. Drivers will be able to connect their vehicle to any natural gas line for fast, convenient refueling.”
