The Power of Natural Gas

I haven't really looked into natural gas technology, simply because natural gas is not a renewable resource. In order to get along with Mamma Nature in the future, we need to invest in renewable energy resources such as Geothermal, wind, solar and tidal power. However, at the unveiling of T. Boone Pickens Energy Plan, many friends have asked me about CNG vehicles.

CNG stands for Compressed Natural Gas, and currently, Honda, Volkswagen and Mercedes are investing more into this technology than others, but most car companies, including Ford and GM make cars that run on CNG. In fact, Mercedes and Volkswagen have vehicles that can switch between CNG and gasoline. The Mercedes E-class CNG can get 186 miles on its CNG tank and an additional 435 miles from its gasoline tank. The Honda Civic GX comes with a home pump named "Phill" that you can hook up to your natural gas tank at home and refuel your Civic overnight.

CNG burns much cleaner than gasoline, simply because it is a much smaller hydrocarbon. Octane has 8 carbons, while Methane only has 2. CNG refining is more expensive than gasoline, but like BioDiesel, it can come down in price if demand increases, and technology improves. CNG pumps are just as safe as gasoline pumps, which aren't as safe as we think. The gas tanks in the cars are much safer than current gasoline tanks, consisting of fiberglass and shock material, that I could not find any cases where they have ruptured in a crash. To make room for the larger tank, the carmakers have modified the rear suspension to a lighter weight material and flatter chassis. They also have eliminated the need for a spare and jack by making run-flat tires the standard on all CNG models.

Fun fact: Currently UPS currently has 987 CNG trucks in their Texas, Georgia, California and New York fleets. If most fleet vehicles switched to CNG while private family vehicles remained on gasoline, we could stretch our non-renewable fuel resources out for a few more decades, but it is not a permanent fix. We need to take that gained time to come up with an innovative way to get from here to there with renewable energy sources.