GE and Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced they will collaborate to accelerate the adoption of natural gas as a transportation fuel.


Starting this fall, GE will provide more than 250 modular and standardized natural-gas compression stations. These units, also known as "CNG In A Box," take natural gas from a pipeline and compress it on-site at an industrial location or at a traditional automotive refilling station. A CNG vehicle, such as a taxi, bus or small truck, can then refill its tank using a traditional fuel dispenser, much like those used for diesel or gasoline refueling.

The gas compression, storage, cooling, drying and controls are easy to ship and maintain due to the compact design.

The units come in two configurations: an 8-by-20-foot container or 8-by-40-foot container, depending on the site's need. The fuel dispenses at a rate of about 7 gasoline gallon equivalent per minute.

Other elements of the new collaboration include:

- Aftermarket services for natural gas fueling infrastructure.

- GE's LNG fueling plants, which adapt GE's proven large-scale LNG liquefaction technologies to smaller-scale operations.

- Development of home refueling technologies.

The two companies say for each fleet vehicle using fuel provided by CNG In A Box instead of gasoline, a fleet operator can reduce CO2 emissions from fuel combustion by about 24%, or 2.2 metric tons per vehicle annually, assuming an average fleet vehicle travels approximately 25,700 miles per year. Peake Fuel Solutions, a Chesapeake affiliate, will bring the CNG technology to market.

The partnership combines Chesapeake's natural gas expertise with GE's extensive global manufacturing capabilities.