Asphalt Plants Learn How to Cut Emissions in Half by Switching to Natural Gas

The Texas Natural Gas Foundation recently hosted a Low Emission Asphalt Workshop for Dallas-Fort Worth area asphalt plants and haulers. Held at the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) office and sponsored by Blue Roads Solutions, asphalt plant operators in attendance learned that a typical plant could cut NOx by 52 percent, sulfur dioxide by 94 percent, and hazardous air pollutants by 47 percent by utilizing natural gas rather than waste oil.  

Andy Pujats with Blue Roads Solutions explained how asphalt plants not located near a natural gas pipeline can take advantage of the company’s mobile natural gas delivery system. Phil Crofts with Dillon Transport, a large asphalt and aggregate hauler, described his company’s program to use natural gas in their trucks. They currently operate 246 natural gas trucks throughout the country, including 67 in Texas. Despite the drop in diesel prices, Dillon is still saving money by using natural gas.

To address the common question of whether natural gas will remain less expensive than crude oil in the near future, Cole Robertson with BP Energy Partners made the following points:

•  There are no refining costs of natural gas.

•  Crude oil is a global commodity and natural gas is a regional commodity.

•  The price of crude oil is susceptible to many factors which create volatility (i.e. geopolitics).

For these fundamental reasons, natural gas will stay cheap on an energy equivalent basis to crude oil for a long period of time, allowing for long term planning.

State Representative Jason Isaac outlined how Texas plant operators can apply for Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) grants to assist them and their haulers in paying for the upfront cost of switching to natural gas. For more details about the information presented and available grants, visit http://www.txng.org/resources or contact Heather Ball (heather@txng.org).