The other day while passing through Towanda, Pa, I stopped at the Dandy Mini Mart on Rt. 6. This fueling station has everything you’d expect from a Dandy Mini Mart – gasoline, diesel, soft drinks and ready-made food – and, this station offers Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Until this CNG facility opened the only place I could fill up in the northeast was Cabot’s fueling station in Springville, Pa. Given the necessity to travel across the northern tier regularly, this new facility, and the others purposed, are very exciting news.
As you can see, the station doesn’t look much different from a regular fueling station: One island with four fueling station (two at each pump) covered by a canopy. But a closer look reveals some of the more noticeable differences.
Since natural gas is not a liquid we can’t measure it in gallons without a Gallon of Gasoline (GGE) conversion. GGE is the amount of alternative fuel need to equal the energy content of one liquid gallon of gasoline.  So 1mcf of gas or 1000 cubic feet of gas is approximately equivalent to 7.9 gallons of gasoline. Luckily the pump at the station takes care of the conversion.
Another difference at the pump is a gauge measuring line pressure (directly above the number 1). This gauge allows the user to verify CNG is in the line and that the customer is receiving gas (gauge will fluctuate as CNG moves from pump to tank).

The only other difference with this CNG station and a regular fueling station is the head at the end of the hose. The head looks more like a magic wand. That’s because the pump needs a complete seal with the tank before it starts pumping. If the seal is broken, the pump will not push gas because it could work its way out of the systems and into the atmosphere. The handle services two purposes: locking and venting. Moving the handle backwards locks the head into place creating that seal. Moving it forwards after fueling is complete will empty the residual gas in the line between the pump and the tank before releasing the seal. 
There are two Dandy Mini Mart CNG stations open, and two in the works. As someone who drives a CNG powered pickup truck every day I am excited to see infrastructure being built to support this clean burning fuel source.

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Bill serves as an External Affairs Coordinator for Coterra Energy. He is focused on building community knowledge and support for the organization and industry at large.

Before his time with Coterra Energy, Bill was the original Field Director for Energy in Depth’s Northeast Marcellus campaign. Within this two-year position, Bill worked to engage, educate, and mobilize supporters of Marcellus Shale development across New York and Pennsylvania. Bill received his B.S. in Management, a B.A. in History, and an MBA from Misericordia University.