Over the past decade, I have personally surveyed many of the nation’s critical energy infrastructure in support of the President’s Homeland Security Effort. In the early 1970’s, we examined critical facilities and their ability to withstand a nuclear blast (U.S. Corps of Engineers – National Fallout Survey for Critical Facilities). In recent years we have prepared “Energy Emergency Response Plans” for the states (New Hampshire, Delaware, Arkansas, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming) and the cities (Cheyenne, WY, Greenwood Village CO, Manhattan KS, and Topeka KS). Energy emergency response plans include all energy sources: natural gas, propane, coal, petroleum, and electricity. When shortages of petroleum imports into the U.S. occur, these plans are activated along with the state and city Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) to respond to emergency situations. During most disaster/emergency response actions there are two failures: (1). communication (radio-telephone) between agencies, and (2). fuel supply for the emergency vehicles and emergency generators (including buses for emergency transportation of responders). Also, several states and cities have assigned regional transportation agencies the job of transporting victims and responders making their job even more critical. Many of the energy emergency plans encourage citizens to use bus transportation vs. autos to conserve fuel. In most cases, the delivery of diesel fuel to the bus fueling station is hampered by demands for diesel from emergency ambulances and fire trucks. Natural gas buses are able to overcome this by using a reliable-piped (in the ground) fuel source. Therefore, we have concluded that natural gas is the best reliable North American energy source for bus transportation in our National Security Effort and the Nation’s Homeland Defense.

The reason for our conclusion is: Over 85 percent of the natural gas consumed in the United States is produced domestically from the nation's extensive gas resource base. In comparison, close to 60 percent of the oil used in the United States is imported from foreign countries, some of which are politically unstable. The system is safe: the safest way to transport energy, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Furthermore, natural gas is a reliable source of fuel not only because most of the supply is domestic, but also because the pipeline delivery system is underground and protected from weather-related disruptions and terrorist attacks. This reliability is one of the reasons businesses that cannot afford power disruptions find gas-fired distributed electricity generation so attractive. For instance, McDonald's and other food chains are testing gas-based distributed generation because they cannot afford power outages that could destroy their food products. During times of extreme emergency in this country we want to depend on reliable transportation with a secure fuel supply such as CNG buses.

On the other hand, we have concluded that diesel fuel is highly dependent on delivery trucks, storage facilities, and above ground storage tanks. These above ground storage tanks and delivery vehicles are highly susceptible to leaks, accidents, and delivery problems due to weather.

Boston Globe Article

Bob Kistner, President and CEO of Green Alert Technologies, has over 40-years of emergency planning, disaster mitigation and recovery experience serving federal, state, local governments, and private organizations throughout the country. His career in emergency management includes over 30-years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and state and local governments. He assisted the Town of Estes Park, Colorado in the recovery from the dam failure disaster. He has also served as a disaster recovery manager for Utah, Colorado, and Tucker County, West Virginia.