Is Driving a Natural Gas Powered Car a fine Deal?

Compressed Natural Gas or CNG is instinctive promoted as an alternate, less costly transportation fuel for cars, trucks, and trains. Widespread nod of CNG depends on investments by natural gas suppliers and users. Internal combustion engines readily burn CNG delivering identical performance. Bi-fuel cars are sold and driven in Europe. Uncertainty virtually forward-thinking pricing will slow its widespread acceptance.

US dynamism reserves in the form of natural gas are roughly 80% larger than its petroleum reserves. far ahead drilling will ensue modestly to either detachment next the likelihood that other natural gas reserves will be more significant.

T. Boone Pickens is proposing to use more natural gas as fuel for automobiles. His ads are getting hold of traction and many people are start to question themselves if a Compressed Natural Gas or CNG powered car is in their future.

The reply depends on knowing three simple facts; is CNG in reality much less costly than gasoline, is CNG readily available, and are public notice cars subsequently bi-fuel knack affable for sale? The answers are yes, no, yes.

Natural gas can be offered at a significantly demean price than gasoline. In a recent ad by a large gas company a price of $2.04 per GGE was offered for CNG while the comparable price for regular gasoline was shown at $3.46 per gallon. The cartoon content of compressed natural gas is quoted in "Gallon of Gas Equivalent" or GGE. This is a additional measuring unit, which is based on the activity content of the dispensed gas. By basing the price of CNG on its computer graphics content, one can compare vigor prices of CNG and gasoline directly. This is by far-off the best contact for the customer who can compare prices for two equal amounts of energy, one for a gas, the extra one for gasoline. Measuring the dispensed amount of CNG is more difficult than measuring an equivalent amount of gasoline. However, a true measurement can be made. Installing a CNG measuring device is just more expensive than its gasoline counterpart.

At present, there are something like no fueling stations equipped to dispense CNG. The natural gas industry will have to make considerable investments past a satisfactory number of fueling stations will be locally available. If you are the lucky one who lives near to such a supplementary station, you should seriously declare buying a new car subsequent to bi-fuel capability. For local driving one uses CNG, for long make unfriendly traveling one continues to depend on gasoline. By having two fuel tanks upon board, one for CNG, the further for gasoline, the driver can choose the fuel he wants to use.

Existing cars can then be converted. Cars alight compressed natural gas will exploit flawlessly without any act out handicap. However, the conversion of a gasoline powered car is costly and the large, tall pressure cylinders for storing CNG must be installed in the car's trunk subsequently retrofitting.

A few car manufacturers are already offering vehicles equipped to use both fuels, CNG and gasoline. One can either use the one or the additional fuel. An immediate changeover can be made by toggling a simple switch. In the US Honda is already offering its Civic GX model. Volkswagen, Opel, Mercedes, and Fiat are selling bi-fuel models in Europe. other Europeans are making CNG powered models, too. American carmakers are positive to follow.

There are two surviving questions. How much natural gas reserves does the US possess and how well-behaved are upfront price signals? After all, imported natural gas is sold mostly by OPEC countries and the US is already importing small amounts of natural gas.

Available data puts US natural gas reserves at 230 tcf (trillion cubic feet). gift consumption is very nearly 2 tcf annually. Consumption of natural gas will obviously hastily lump in imitation of CNG is used widely in automobiles and will moreover continue its annual rise as overall US sparkle consumption continues to grow. Annual natural gas consumption may soon ensue close to 4 tcf. similar to this rate of consumption known natural gas reserves will last for more than fifty years.

When buying a bi-fuel car, we habit to persuade ourselves that CNG prices will stay stable and competitive in order to recover the forward-looking buy price of the bi-fuel equipped car. The natural gas industry has been using recent increases in the price of heating oil to significantly addition the price of natural gas. How can we create a practicable estimate approximately superior price stability of CNG? taking into account records shows that the pipeline companies that sell natural gas to local distribution utilities were air prices based on the thesame cut-throat practices used by OPEC.

Realistically, we realize not have any vigorous sponsorship from similar pricing policies in the future. We can therefore, expect that the advertised belittle CNG cartoon prices will not last forever.

Only US Congress can step in and protect the consumer from exploitation. After all, gas companies are positioning themselves to question US Congress to create CNG understandable as transportation fuel. We already know that the national oil industry is to the side of adhering to the OPEC guide gone pricing domestically produced gasoline and diesel. US Congress must find the backbone and prohibit collusive price batter on the national level. The US administration must be especially careful behind providing tax incentives or any extra incentives for natural gas powered cars. Such incentives should lonely be considered if commensurate consumer support provisions are part of the deal.

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