What’s Better: Diesel vs. Gas Generators?

Diesel vs. gaseous-fueled generators each offer advantages to consider when designing a standby power solution.

The most noticeable advantage of a gaseous-fueled generator is the extended run time provided by a continuous supply of natural gas. The natural gas infrastructure has shown itself to be extremely reliable in situations that cause power outages; through four Florida hurricanes in 2004 and the Northeast grid failure of 2003, the natural gas supply was unaffected.

By comparison, diesel-fueled generators provide access to backup power in remote areas that do not have a gaseous-fuel infrastructure. When applied to standby power applications of 150 kW or more, a diesel-fueled generator delivers a lower capital cost per kilowatt of electricity than a gaseous-fueled generator. Attempts to lessen this disparity, such as converting industrial diesel engines to gaseous fuel, only add engineering costs to the project. As a result, diesel-fueled generators have a capital cost advantage over their spark-ignited counterparts in larger standby applications, making them the traditional market norm.

Additionally, a significant part of the market—especially those segments with mission-critical applications like hospitals and 911 call centers—uses diesel-fueled generators because of code requirements for on-site fuel. While gaseous-fueled generators using on-site LP fuel can often meet such code requirements, as can systems designed to run in a dual-fuel configuration with natural gas as a primary fuel and LP as the secondary fuel, the capital cost advantage of diesel-fueled generators typically makes them the preferred solution when on-site fuel is a must.

Both diesel and gaseous-fueled units share applications below 150 kW. Gaseous-fueled generators are often chosen for residential and small commercial standby applications. The automotive-style engines used in these units are readily available in high volumes, making them extremely cost effective. The ready supply of LP and natural gas in these applications also makes them ideal.

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