Natural Gas: How Much Can We Ask Of “The Bridge Fuel”?

[longknife]

Approvals, convert to natural gas, Heavy truck fleet, liquefied natural gas, LNG, natural gas, projected use, terminal, what if we used only natural gas

By Institute for Energy Research, Thursday, March 20, 2014

Thanks to hydraulic fracturing and anti-coal regulations, low cost and abundant natural gas is displacing coal in the electric generation sector and many have argued that it should replace diesel used by heavy duty trucks in the transportation sector. The low cost of natural gas coupled with regulatory favoritism currently makes natural gas the nation’s fuel of choice. But just how far can this natural gas renaissance take the nation in replacing coal as a utility fuel and petroleum for use in heavy trucks? Let’s take a look.

A very interesting article with some unique perspectives. We clearly have the resources. The question is, how far can we go with the current policies in place? And, will it become economically feasible to make some of the changes? The idea of transforming the heavy truck fleet from diesel to natural gas doesn't seem that strange to me as I drove a taxi using it for 5 years – and found it just as good as a gas-powered car and lasting a whole lot longer.

And, here's the conclusion to the article:

Natural gas is a versatile energy resource and since it is the fossil fuel with the lowest emissions of carbon dioxide, it is in demand in all sectors of the economy. It has lowered carbon dioxide emissions in the electric generating sector, resulted in the resurgence of the industrial sector in the United States, and remains the major fuel in the residential sector heating homes and providing energy to other appliances in many households. It is being eyed to replace coal in the electric generation sector, to be used to fuel the heavy truck fleet, and to be exported to nations that need more favorably priced natural gas or are dependent on Russian natural gas. Those uses could create a large demand for the fuel that will require huge up front capital costs, large infrastructure changes, and the need to produce much, much more natural gas in the future than our forecasters are predicting

Read the full article @ Natural Gas: How Much Can We Ask Of ?The Bridge Fuel??

 

[Mr. H.]

I (heart) hydrocarbons.

 

[elektra]

California changed the Diesel fuel regulations, literally impacting a 100% of all Diesel vehicles in California, trucks from out of state can not even run our Diesel fuel.

Billions of dollars of equipment was sold out of state, given to foreign Countries.

Switching to Natural Gas is a no brainer, the cost is next to nothing compared to building one Solar Plant.

Your car can run on Natural Gas as well as Gas, as in you can switch between the two with a flip of a switch. The infrastructure is largely in place.

Storage tanks and some infrastructure are at many gas stations across the Country already.

Going electrical is impossible, Electric cars require hours on a charging station, requiring one at home as well as one at work. Its not like glass where you can just fill up, the infrastructure required for Electric is literally 20,000 x's larger than Natural Gas.

Natural Gas is a simple no brainer.

 

[Mr. H.]

Gas is groovy.

 

[RGR]

Gas is groovy.

Give us more!!!

 

[DGS49]

My question is, measured in miles, how much natural gas can be safely stored in a car? 50 miles worth? 100?

Local utilities where I live have been using trucks that use natural gas for some time now, but they operate on regular gasoline as well. When the NG tank runs down, they switch to gasoline. Is two tanks viable for passenger cars, given the space limitations.

P.S., since the U.S. is the 'Saudi Arabia' of coal, it's a pity we are not spending more to address some new technologies to capture and either treat or store the CO2.

 

[RGR]

My question is, measured in miles, how much natural gas can be safely stored in a car? 50 miles worth? 100?

The Honda GX Honda Civic I think is rated at 200+?

P.S., since the U.S. is the 'Saudi Arabia' of coal, it's a pity we are not spending more to address some new technologies to capture and either treat or store the CO2.

Both are already possible, and therefore do not require new technology. What is required is AFFORDABLE technology. Quite a distinction.

 

[longknife]

My question is, measured in miles, how much natural gas can be safely stored in a car? 50 miles worth? 100?

Local utilities where I live have been using trucks that use natural gas for some time now, but they operate on regular gasoline as well. When the NG tank runs down, they switch to gasoline. Is two tanks viable for passenger cars, given the space limitations.

P.S., since the U.S. is the 'Saudi Arabia' of coal, it's a pity we are not spending more to address some new technologies to capture and either treat or store the CO2.

I remember my cab going almost 300 miles on a tank of NG!

 

[longknife]

My question is, measured in miles, how much natural gas can be safely stored in a car? 50 miles worth? 100?

The Honda GX Honda Civic I think is rated at 200+?

P.S., since the U.S. is the 'Saudi Arabia' of coal, it's a pity we are not spending more to address some new technologies to capture and either treat or store the CO2.

Both are already possible, and therefore do not require new technology. What is required is AFFORDABLE technology. Quite a distinction.

Maybe it was a fleet discount but the total cost of changing a Ford Crown Victoria from gasoline to NG was about $85 for the parts and another $100 or so for the actual conversion. With good maintenance, engine life easily went over 400,000 miles and the suspension often went to h**l long before the engine.