Why CNG Fuel Is The Best Around
The planet's current reservoirs of known natural gas are enough to supply the earth's energy needs for the next 250 years. Canada itself has enough to supply the planets energy needs for the next 50 years according to a Vice President with Nevada gas. The world's largest discovery of NG was made in early 2008 at Rawlins Wyoming. The North Atlantic Ocean, Israel, Australia and Russia also have vast supplies of untapped natural gas making it a secure energy source. The US Energy Information Administration projects up to 240 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas could be produced a year from 4 of the 19 major shale formations is the USA. In 2007, the total U.S.natural gas consumption was 23,057,969 (Mcf). (see 9 &10)
If natural gas is available where you live, you can also install a natural gas pump to your home or business allowing you to refuel your vehicle in your garage. Many people already do this. No delivery needed; natural gas is already being delivered to our homes by underground pipelines. Equipment is $3500 - $4500 and installation is about $500. There is also a $1,500 state tax credit available to offset the cost of installation. The South Coast Air Quality Management District in the Los Angeles basin offers a $2,000 rebate on the purchase of a home CNG refueling device. Utah should to do likewise. So depending on how many miles you drive, this could be a great addition. (Google - "Fuel Maker")
CNG is a LOW COST FUEL or it should be. In Utah, as of 07/14/08, CNG is $.85 a gallon statewide; yes, that's .85 cents! In many other states CNG is as high as $3.75 a gallon. Utah, Oklahoma and a couple of other states regulate their natural gas. If Utah were not regulated, we also would be paying about $.50 a gallon less than gasoline, which has been where the petroleum companies and profiteers have pegged CNG's price in many other states. In the past 20 years a few petroleum companies, like Clean Energy, have gone around the country and bought up many of the natural gas suppliers and distributors, in effect, destroying any competition.
As noted in Time magazine 4/1/08, ethanol is partially responsible for the deforestation of the rainforest as well. The article reports that the corn that is used to distill one tank of ethanol would feed one human for a year. Also less corn available means higher feed prices, thus higher meat, dairy and everything else. In pandering to the farm lobby the federal government and Detroit abandoned CNG as an alternative fuel in favor of E(85) and now we are feeling the pinch at the grocery store and in the lack of new CNG vehicles to choose from. Would you rather import fuel or food? We don't have to import either if we could get special interests out of our elected officials pockets and heads.
The price of regular gasoline is approximately $4.00 a gallon. The price for CNG is $.85 a gallon in Utah. So the ratio is approximately 5 to 1. So, in terms of the money paid, gasoline costs 5 times more than natural gas, which means that a Ford Crown Victoria that averages 25 mpg gets the financial equivalent of 5 x 25 or 125 mpg on average or in other words, it's like paying the normal price for gasoline, but getting 125 miles per gallon. Now, that's my kind of GREEN$$
REDUCE OUR DEPENDENCE on FOREIGN OIL NOW. Many politicians talk about reducing dependence but what are they doing about it TODAY? It's a no-brainer! CNG is a domestic fuel. While in 2005, the U.S. imported over 75 percent of the oil it used, 99 percent of the natural gas used in the U.S. is produced in North America (85 percent from the U.S. and 14 percent from Canada). Every gallon equivalent of natural gas used in vehicles is one less gallon of petroleum that has to be imported. All diesel engines can be adapted to a dual fuel system. Diesel engines will run easily on a mixture as low as 20% diesel and 80% CNG according to a Questar executive.
Physical Properties: Natural gas is flammable; otherwise it could not be used as a fuel for internal combustion and other types of energy. When released into the air or mixed with air in an engine, compressed natural gas becomes flammable only when the mixture is between 5 and 15 percent natural gas. When the mixture is less than 5 percent natural gas (too thin) it doesn't burn. When the mixture is more than 15 percent natural gas (too rich) there is not enough oxygen to allow it to burn. It also has an ignition temperature of approximately 1100 degrees F compared to gasoline and diesel fuel which both have lower concentrations of flammability and much lower temperatures of ignition.
Fuel System: Natural gas vehicles (NGV's) have all the same standard safety equipment as conventional cars (seat belts, air bags, etc.), yet they are subjected to the same crash safety tests as well.
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