Can we really switch to natural gas vehicles?
Yesterday, green media junkies like me watched T. Boone Pickens roll out his grand plan to get America off of foreign oil and on to wind and natural gas. While I'll admit, he delivered a pretty convincing sales pitch -- guess that's why he's a billionaire -- I left wondering if making the switch to natural gas as a driving fuel would be as easy as it looked when Pickens started sliding pieces of that pie chart around. As I searched through the vastness of the interweb looking for answers, I came across a lot of great information about the benefits and downsides to making the switch. Here's a quick rundown:
- Greenhouse Emissions -- Natural gas produces 20% fewer carbon emissions than gasoline -- similar to corn-based ethanol, only without the intense cultivation process. In addition, natural gas vehicles emit 70% less methane, and 87% less nitrogen oxides than gas burners.
- Fuel Range -- Natural Gas Vehicles have a shorter range than conventional gas vehicles, due to natural gas' lower energy content. The Honda Civic NGV has a range of 170 miles.
- Infrastructure -- There are 1,100 natural gas refueling stations in the US, half of which are open to the public. Compare that to 200,000 gas stations. If NGVs became more common, more gas stations would likely install natural gas pumps.
- Price at the Pump -- Natural gas is measured in GGEs (gasoline gallon equivalents), 124,800 BTUs, and costs about a third of what gasoline is going for.
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