If you already use natural gas for home appliances, why not run your car on natural gas? Would it be less expensive fuel? Only asking. cuhulin
- posted
14 years ago
If you already use natural gas for home appliances, why not run your car on natural gas? Would it be less expensive fuel? Only asking. cuhulin
Some folks do, especially city busses. It's not much cheaper and it's a pain to compress for storage.
--scott
Well, actually it is a good bit cheaper to use just now, but it is not cheap to set up your gas compression system, and your car's fuel tanks, to deal with it.
Natural gas is pretty cheap right now. About $3 per million standard cubic feet the last time I looked. It had been as high as about $15 per MMSCF a year or two ago.
Our area sits atop the Haynesville trend, a deep shale that holds a lot of gas. They completed a well here recently that is producing 28 MMSCF per day. Wish that were on my unit.
Let's not forget that currently there are no road-use taxes on NG.
It does make for an excellent fuel but has relatively short range if it is supplied compressed (CNG). To get decent range requires some fairly expensive compressor stations (to get to 10000 psi where compressed H2 is headed). LNG (liquefied natural gas) is probably even more expensive to supply and store locally.
Maybe better than a battery, eh? NG is normally not liquidified. It is too pressure and temperature sensitive. I have read that solution gas systems offer a lot of promise. This is in the same sense as acetylene has been delivered, dissolved in acetone.
The Shell process, GTL, can produce hydrocarbon fuels from natural gas.
Still, after the news today about the very serious state of the polar ice, we need something better than carbon based fuels.
What news is that? Got a link?
--Vic
Heard it on NPR as I drove back home today. Polar glaciers are thinning even more, calving.
I need to research before I can take a stance.
Back in the 1970s, I read an article in National Geographic magazine about China.One of the pictures in the magazine showed some city buses running on natural gas.The buses had a big inflateble bag mounted on top of the roof of the buses.I think the article said the buses had a range of about forty miles before they had to refill again. cuhulin
If it's from NPR, by definition it is lying liberal bullshit.
I don't give a rat's ass about the "polar glaciers." I'm going to continue *increasing* my carbon footprint no matter what leftist scumbags such as yourself might want.
You need to get your head out of your ass.
Sounds like somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
--scott
I guess we would expect that from you, Roger.
Indeed the thing that made gasoline such a hit in the dawn of the automotive era was its high energy density. The gas engine (IC engine) was originally designed to run on one of several actual gases (such as illuminating gas or water gas). For transportation use it was essential that a liquid fuel be developed. Prior to the automobile what we now call gasoline was a byproduct of the refining of kerosene from petroleum. It didn't have enough uses to use all that was produced and some was just discarded!
Alcohols and various biofuels can be substitutes, but most of them still aren't as good as gasoline. Same with natural gas- the range problem is a biggie.
I think it is funny that he would define me as a leftist liberal...ROTFLMAO
This kind of behavior is what you get when you eat a snake for breakfast.. Or maybe the snake bit him last night ;>)
Algae derived biodiesel would seem to have the most promise as a carbon neutral storage vessel of for solar energy. Imagine that, my solar powered F350 :)
Well, we have plenty of algae... What frightens me a bit is that scientists are now working with genetically modified algae that actually oozes fuel directly from the filaments. Let THAT get out into nature, and it could be ugly beyond belief.
Also, I read where Iran is using it extensively... a lot of their motorcycles use it. CNG is practically free over there.
Well, monkey boy, that is typical of those who listen to NPR and spew environazi garbage.
Or maybe I'm just sick and tired of being "bitten" by environmentalists and their crap over the last 40 years.
It probably wont get any better.
Also, I read where Iran is using it extensively... a lot of their motorcycles use it. CNG is practically free over there.
*********** It is really cheap here, all in all. It is the handling problems that hurts this as a fuel. If you could keep liquid methane (essentially the same as natural gas) in your tank, you would have a great fuel. It is easy to keep propane and butane liquid, but not so for methane.
Here is one link from the WWF.
I am not alarmist, but I am concerned.
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