Driving on gas - but not gasoline (CNNMoney.com) {methane-fueled Honda}

[eppur_se_muova]

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com staff writer
February 2 2007: 5:01 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- When my neighbors learned the car I was test-driving was filled with compressed natural gas, the first question many asked was about safety.

"Gasoline is flammable, too, you know," I reminded them.

In fact, compressed natural gas is supposed to be safer than gasoline. In the event the tank is punctured, the escaping gas would rise into the air away from the car, as opposed to puddling on the ground like gasoline.

And the tank on the car I was driving, the 2006 Honda Civic GX, is considerably thicker than one on a standard car. The Civic GX is currently the only natural-gas car.

Once you get past the safety issue, there are four major advantages of compressed natural gas as a motor fuel.


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more: http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/29/autos/honda_civic_gx/index.htm

The obvious question is, "why isn't this a hybrid vehicle as well?". The obvious answer is "that would add to the sticker price". But in the long term, think how much CO2 that would prevent!

[bullimiami]

1. that really is the question. the reduced range drawback would be dealt with

and its fuel efficiency would be amazing. probably well over 50 mpg and there could be 2 subsidies to help defray the cost.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Sounds like some of us potential buyers are more confident than the mfgrs, no? nt

[thereismore]

3. doesn't burning natural gas produce CO2? OK, it's cheaper, but

does it help in any other way?

[bullimiami]

5. higher mileage = less co2. yes burning natural gas is still combustion.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Incrementally better, still lots of CO2.

In methane (CH4) there is a ratio of H/C = 4, whereas liquid fuels have a lower H/C approaching 2. Gasoline ~C8H18, diesel ~C18H38 (off the top of my head, not exact).

So burning CH4 produces more water & less CO2 for the same energy, but it's not a cure-all. Large domestic reserves of natural gas are a big factor in figuring cost advantages.

[thereismore]

7. Thanks, that explains it for me. nt

[kestrel91316]

4. All our metro buses for the past 10 years or more have run on

CNG (compressed natural gas, ie methane). Beats hell out of the old black diesel belchers!

[NickB79]

8. So, how's the N. American continent doing on nat. gas supplies?

It's not like there's just a few years worth of supply left in the ground up in Canada that will probably be diverted to oilsands extraction instead, right?

[JohnWxy]

9. do you have any numbers (links?) on GHGs from methane combustion vs gasoline?

methane can be produced from manure using anaerobic digesters.


ON edit: Okay, natural gas is mostly methane. So I suppose the GHG emissions for methane would be much the same as for NG.

[Dead_Parrot]

11. True, but

The combustion gasses will be mainly CO₂, not methane - which is much worse as a GHG. Grabbing the methane from shit and burning it is better than just letting it waft away.

Digging up more fossil fuels and burning them, OTOH, ain't a giant leap forwards.

[Javaman]

10. Okay, so how about this...

put a giant dome over siberia and capture the methane that is bubbling to the surface there.

it doesn't lower CO2 levels but it will lower methane levels.

[lakeguy]

12. that's be one big-ass fill up station! nt