Why CNG Fuel Is The Best Around
The planet's current reservoirs of known natural gas are enough to supply the earth's energy needs for the next 250 years. Canada itself has enough to supply the planets energy needs for the next 50 years according to a Vice President with Nevada gas. The world's largest discovery of NG was made in early 2008 at Rawlins Wyoming. The North Atlantic Ocean, Israel, Australia and Russia also have vast supplies of untapped natural gas making it a secure energy source. The US Energy Information Administration projects up to 240 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas could be produced a year from 4 of the 19 major shale formations is the USA. In 2007, the total U.S.natural gas consumption was 23,057,969 (Mcf). (see 9 &10)
PERFORMANCE in regards to CNG is not a problem. CNG is approximately 130 octane. Racing fuels are about approximately 110 octane. The octane in regular gasoline that most of our vehicles run on is 85. In fact, the world land speed record was set by "Blue Flame", a natural gas vehicle on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on October 28, 1970. The Blue Flame's record of 630.478 mph, lasted for 13 years.
Gasoline is liquid that is sprayed or injected into a vehicle's cylinders in a semi-gaseous state. CNG is already gas, thus providing a more complete and cleaner burn. This has to do with the molecular structure of methane, CH4. It has the highest ratio of carbon to hydrogen atoms of any other compound on earth, thus more complete efficient combustion as compared to petroleum,(C8H18). E(85) Ethanol, on the other hand, has very poor performance and requires MORE energy to produce it than it provides. If that isn't bad enough, they use natural gas to heat the corn to produce ethanol. Add that to the fact that by using our corn reserves (a third of the U.S. annual corn crop) to produce fuel we lose our bargaining chip with other countries to feed their population.
As noted in Time magazine 4/1/08, ethanol is partially responsible for the deforestation of the rainforest as well. The article reports that the corn that is used to distill one tank of ethanol would feed one human for a year. Also less corn available means higher feed prices, thus higher meat, dairy and everything else. In pandering to the farm lobby the federal government and Detroit abandoned CNG as an alternative fuel in favor of E(85) and now we are feeling the pinch at the grocery store and in the lack of new CNG vehicles to choose from. Would you rather import fuel or food? We don't have to import either if we could get special interests out of our elected officials pockets and heads.
Below are my findings from researching several sources, including: the University of Utah Chemistry Department, Los Alamos National Labs NM, the History Channel, the managements of the Utah, Idaho, Arizona and Nevada natural gas companies, my own extensive reading, and my ownership of CNG vehicles.
CLEAN AIR: Natural gas vehicles show an average reduction in ozone-forming emissions of 80% compared to gasoline or diesel vehicles. The use of CNG vehicles results in less petroleum consumption, and less air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas is not made from petroleum, as gasoline and diesel are. It has a simple, one carbon, molecular structure (CH4) that makes possible its nearly complete combustion. In general, carbon dioxide is exhaled by animals and utilized by plants during photosynthesis.
Physical Properties: Natural gas is flammable; otherwise it could not be used as a fuel for internal combustion and other types of energy. When released into the air or mixed with air in an engine, compressed natural gas becomes flammable only when the mixture is between 5 and 15 percent natural gas. When the mixture is less than 5 percent natural gas (too thin) it doesn't burn. When the mixture is more than 15 percent natural gas (too rich) there is not enough oxygen to allow it to burn. It also has an ignition temperature of approximately 1100 degrees F compared to gasoline and diesel fuel which both have lower concentrations of flammability and much lower temperatures of ignition.
Fuel System: Natural gas vehicles (NGV's) have all the same standard safety equipment as conventional cars (seat belts, air bags, etc.), yet they are subjected to the same crash safety tests as well. - 21393
PERFORMANCE in regards to CNG is not a problem. CNG is approximately 130 octane. Racing fuels are about approximately 110 octane. The octane in regular gasoline that most of our vehicles run on is 85. In fact, the world land speed record was set by "Blue Flame", a natural gas vehicle on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on October 28, 1970. The Blue Flame's record of 630.478 mph, lasted for 13 years.
Gasoline is liquid that is sprayed or injected into a vehicle's cylinders in a semi-gaseous state. CNG is already gas, thus providing a more complete and cleaner burn. This has to do with the molecular structure of methane, CH4. It has the highest ratio of carbon to hydrogen atoms of any other compound on earth, thus more complete efficient combustion as compared to petroleum,(C8H18). E(85) Ethanol, on the other hand, has very poor performance and requires MORE energy to produce it than it provides. If that isn't bad enough, they use natural gas to heat the corn to produce ethanol. Add that to the fact that by using our corn reserves (a third of the U.S. annual corn crop) to produce fuel we lose our bargaining chip with other countries to feed their population.
As noted in Time magazine 4/1/08, ethanol is partially responsible for the deforestation of the rainforest as well. The article reports that the corn that is used to distill one tank of ethanol would feed one human for a year. Also less corn available means higher feed prices, thus higher meat, dairy and everything else. In pandering to the farm lobby the federal government and Detroit abandoned CNG as an alternative fuel in favor of E(85) and now we are feeling the pinch at the grocery store and in the lack of new CNG vehicles to choose from. Would you rather import fuel or food? We don't have to import either if we could get special interests out of our elected officials pockets and heads.
Below are my findings from researching several sources, including: the University of Utah Chemistry Department, Los Alamos National Labs NM, the History Channel, the managements of the Utah, Idaho, Arizona and Nevada natural gas companies, my own extensive reading, and my ownership of CNG vehicles.
CLEAN AIR: Natural gas vehicles show an average reduction in ozone-forming emissions of 80% compared to gasoline or diesel vehicles. The use of CNG vehicles results in less petroleum consumption, and less air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas is not made from petroleum, as gasoline and diesel are. It has a simple, one carbon, molecular structure (CH4) that makes possible its nearly complete combustion. In general, carbon dioxide is exhaled by animals and utilized by plants during photosynthesis.
Physical Properties: Natural gas is flammable; otherwise it could not be used as a fuel for internal combustion and other types of energy. When released into the air or mixed with air in an engine, compressed natural gas becomes flammable only when the mixture is between 5 and 15 percent natural gas. When the mixture is less than 5 percent natural gas (too thin) it doesn't burn. When the mixture is more than 15 percent natural gas (too rich) there is not enough oxygen to allow it to burn. It also has an ignition temperature of approximately 1100 degrees F compared to gasoline and diesel fuel which both have lower concentrations of flammability and much lower temperatures of ignition.
Fuel System: Natural gas vehicles (NGV's) have all the same standard safety equipment as conventional cars (seat belts, air bags, etc.), yet they are subjected to the same crash safety tests as well. - 21393
posted by X - Men @ 1:35 AM
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