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One Way to Control Gas Prices
By Jacqueline Seewald
As gasoline prices soar out of control and concern over harmful emissions mount, automobiles that run on alternate fuel sources are becoming a significant option. A natural-gas vehicle, or NGV, is fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly and offers a relatively low cost of ownership.
Natural gas comes from the decay of ancient organisms like gasoline, but it takes a gaseous form instead of a liquid form. Natural gas often occurs in association with crude oil, is derived from both land plants and aquatic organic matter, and forms above or below oil deposits. It is often dissolved in crude oil at the high pressures existing in a reservoir. There are also reservoirs of natural gas, known as non-associated gas, that contain only gas and no oil.
The Chinese burned natural gas as early as 211 BC to dry rock salt found in limestone rock. They also drilled the first known natural gas wells, using bamboo poles and primitive bits, but they were only able to reach depths of about 500 feet. Throughout the 19th century, the use of natural gas remained localized because there was no way to transport large quantities of gas over long distances. In 1890, the invention of a leak-proof pipeline coupling made it possible to transport gas miles from the source. Improvements in pipeline technology continued over the next two decades until long-distance gas transmission became practical. From 1927 to 1931, laborers constructed more than 10 major natural gas transmission systems in the United States, making natural gas a practical energy source for many applications.
Today, owners of natural-gas vehicles can fill up their cars at one of 1,300 fueling stations located in the United States. Honda offers a personal natural gas pump to people who purchase its natural-gas-powered Civic. The pump uses a home's existing natural gas lines and can be installed for $500 to $1500.
These automobiles are environmentally friendly. Natural gas vehicles can achieve up to a 93 percent reduction in carbon monoxide emissions, 33 percent reduction in emissions of various oxides of nitrogen and a 50 percent reduction in reactive hydrocarbons when compared to gasoline cars. Natural gas costs are lower than gasoline. On average, natural gas costs one-third less than gasoline at the pump. Natural gas is convenient and abundant. A well-established pipeline exists in the United States to deliver natural gas to almost every urban area and most suburban areas as well. There are more NGV fueling stations being added every day.
One of the biggest complaints about NGVs is that they aren't as roomy as gasoline cars. This is because NGVs have to give up precious cargo and trunk space to accommodate the fuel storage cylinders. Another drawback is the limited driving range of NGVs, which is about half that of a gasoline-powered vehicle. For example, Honda's natural gas Civic, the Civic GX, can go up to 220 miles without refueling. A typical gasoline-powered Civic can go approximately 350 miles without refueling. If a dedicated NGV ran out of fuel on the road, it would have to be towed to the owner's home or to a local natural gas refueling station, which might be harder to find than a regular gas station.
However, many countries like Arm-enia use automobiles built so that the driver can switch from using gasoline to natural gas.
Gasoline is a fossil fuel and cannot be considered a renewable resource. And while natural gas res-erves in the United States are still considerable, they are not inexhaustible either.
Despite some of the advantages off-ered by NGVs, they are still relatively uncommon. According to the Natural Gas Coa-lition, there are currently 130,000 NGVs on the road in the United States today and 2.5 million worldwide.
Vehicles fueled by compressed natural gas have had limited appeal in most of the United States. But, as in many things, Utah is proving to be the exception to the rule. While gasoline is hovering at or above $3 a gallon in most of the country, natural gas is currently going for the equivalent of $0.736 a gallon in U tah. Local utility Questar Gas operates vehicle filling stations in the state that have seen sales rise sixty percent in the past two years. CNG (Concentrated Natural Gas) cars receive a tax credit in Utah.
Thanks to substantial state incentives, Utah now has the lowest gas prices in the country and the second largest network of filling stations after California. In addition to the cheap fuel, federal and state tax credits of $4,000 and $3,000, respectively, can save buyers a healthy chunk on the Honda Civic GX which is currently the only new CNG passenger car on the market.
Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens calls one of his companies Clean Energy. Pickens believes in natural gas as a fuel for transport. He controls a majority of shares of Clean Energy, which provides CNG (compressed natural gas) and LNG (liquefied natural gas) for use in refuse, transit, ports, shuttle, taxi, trucking, airport and municipal fleet markets. He even has a fuel terminal named after him.
There are plenty of reasons, from high diesel prices to global warming, to look to natural gas as an alternative fuel. Some cities and companies are remaking their truck and bus fleets to run on
natural gas.