Please Excuse the Gas....

"Natural gas is a better transportation fuel than gasoline, so if that's the case, it's cheaper, it's cleaner and it's a domestic resource"

T. Boone Pickens

This is an updated article from two years ago. The numbers quoted have even grown bigger since then.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates "there are 2,203 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas that is technically recoverable in the United States." That is more gas than I have after a pepperoni and onion pizza! At the rate of U.S. natural gas consumption in 2011 of about 24 Tcf per year, 2,203 Tcf of natural gas is enough to last about 92 years. There is only one thing wrong with this factoid - we keep discovering more natural gas all the time.

So what are we going to do with all this gas? We now have more gas than any other country in the world. Can we heat all our homes? Absolutely! Can we power our electrical plants with a cleaner source than coal? You bet! Can we transform all our cars over to natural gas from gasoline? Maybe...

This is not new science. Cars have been using natural gas for years now.
Current estimates are there are more than 15.2 million natural-gas vehicles on the road throughout the world. As of December of last year, the United States has only 120,000 natural gas cars. Why so few? It has proven we have more natural gas than anyone else. Also, we have a huge dependency problem with our imported oil.

This really does sound like a "no brainer". I know there are pros and cons to having a natural gas powered car. However, the "cons" appear to be very workable and not show stoppers. Here is a summary of the puts and takes:

First the plus side-

• Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) could help to break the U.S. free of dependence on foreign oil. 
• NGVs pave the potential to emit 25 percent less greenhouse gases than diesel-powered vehicles.
• Natural gas is cheaper -- $1.50 to $2 less per gasoline gallon equivalent.
• Lighter-than-air natural gas dissipates in an accident -- a safer scenario than flammable liquid fuel.
• The need to change the car's oil less frequently is due to the cleaner-burning fuel.
• A regular gasoline-powered car averages 32 miles per gallon while a  natural gas powered car averages 43 miles per gallon.

Now the down side-

• Acceleration is typically slower.
• They are more expensive (about $5k) than gasoline powered cars.
• Limited range before refueling (about 200 - 225 miles)
• Very few fueling stations at the present time.
• Refueling tends to be very slow.

I think when all factors are taken into consideration, we are missing a huge opportunities by not jumping on this technology. We know it works, we have the resources, and we certainly have the need. On this issue, I feel that T. Boone knows of what he speaks. It will be a great bridge until the next best thing is discovered or invented that will take us further into the world of abundant, cleaner energy.