It is difficult to say which of the growing number of fuel options will power the cars of the future. But natural gas, given its domestic abundance, low price and lesser carbon footprint, is certainly a contender, at least as far as researchers at the federally funded Argonne National Laboratory are concerned. Some of the same engineers there who developed the batteries now used in electric cars have been tasked with improving natural gas powered engine technologies, thanks to anticipated consumer demand for vehicles powered by something cheaper and greener than gasoline but without the hassles of other alternative fuels.
“Our conclusion is that natural gas as a transportation fuel has both adequate abundance and cost advantages that make a strong case to focus interest in the technology as a real game changer in U.S. energy security,” Mike Duoba, an engineer at Argonne’s Transportation Technology Research and Development Center outside of Chicago, told the Talking Points Memo news blog. “In terms of consumer ownership and use costs, the case to make a switch from current fuels to compressed natural gas (CNG) is much more compelling than for other alternative fuels like ethanol and electricity.”
Given this promise—in addition to a February 2012 Department of Energy announcement of a $30 million competition aimed at finding ways “to harness our abundant supplies of domestic natural gas for vehicles”—Duoba and his colleague have been ramping up vehicle systems analysis and engine research and testing around CNG as a way to wean ourselves off of foreign fuel sources.
Their goal is to improve the efficiency of the CNG combustion process so that it can fit into a new line of engines that can run on gasoline or CNG equally as well, giving consumers the flexibility of choice without any trade-offs. Duoba thinks such a vehicle would have significant consumer appeal, especially in light of sluggish sales of the latest round of electric vehicles from the major automakers.Read it at Peak Oil: Exploring Hydrocarbons
Natural Gas for Automotive Fuel
The technology is not new. They had trucks in Soviet Union with regular gasoline engines burning natural gas. It is stored at much higher pressures in tanks than propane and that's probably some safety concern (200 bar)
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ReplyDeleteToo dangerous. Many miles of pipelines need to be added to filling stations. Every car is potential bomb. The better solution is using the gas to generate electricity with combined cycle power plants. These plants are extremely efficient. Only drawback to them is they have to be shutdown almost every night due to lack of electricity demand. This cycling greatly increases the cost of operating these plants. Charging hybrid/electric vehicles at night would create demand for the electricity. This is the safest, cost effective solution with minimal change to our infrastructure.
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ReplyDelete"cost-effective"
You are entitled to opinions but not to making up facts.
CNG tanks have a proven track record. You could argue that if there is a distinction to make with gasoline, that the fuel is safer and more secure..
The energy storage unit for 70 miles of CNG driving is a ~$300 bucks. To store the same amount of driving energy in a battery? $10,000 to $15,000 (or more). Cost effective? Where do you get that idea?