Why natural gas?
Natural Gas is the most practical motor fuel alternative to oil. Natural Gas is cheaper and cleaner, available in greater quantities, and distributed more evenly throughout the world than oil.
Finding an alternative
Today, consumers are forced to cope with surging oil prices, particularly at the gasoline pump. However, there are several other reasons to shift away from crude oil dependence.
The supply of crude oil in the world is limited, as are production resources. As a result, the total amount of available oil in the world is barely covering demand. Industry analysts predict shortages of oil in the not-to-distant future.
Each year, a growing majority of oil in the world is consumed by the motor vehicle market. While other energy consumption sectors have alternatives to oil dependence, only the automotive sector has continued to increase the yearly amount of oil consumed.
But perhaps most important, the continued dependence on oil fuel causes hazardous pollution and greenhouse gases damaging to the environment. With over 800 million vehicles on the road worldwide, nearly no location is spared the environmental damage of oil and its gasoline derivative.
To reduce the global amount of oil consumed each year, significant focus must be placed directly on consumption in the automotive market.
The cheapest automotive fuel
Natural Gas is cheaper than oil in most countries throughout the world. NG is more available, and more evenly distributed. Taking advantage of NG resources located across the globe will reduce the number of countries seeking to import motor fuel.
In many locations, NG is an available natural resource, making the price of NG lower than oil. In addition, the prices of natural gas are determined regionally. Therefore, there is no international spot price for NG. Prices in different locations vary depending on the costs of transporting NG over short or long distances. Even within the United States, the price of NG can differ quite significantly from one region to another.
Furthermore, NG does not need any refining for use as an energy source. This is in direct contrast to the expensive refining process of crude oil into motor fuel. While in many countries, oil is an abundant resource, the costs and processes of refining oil into gasoline are extremely prohibitive. In certain countries where oil is exported across the globe, gasoline must be imported because of a lack of refinery resources.
Unconventional NG Resources
Natural gas is primarily comprised of methane. Methane (CH4) is one of the simplest and most abundant substances found in nature, especially when compared to oil. Unconventional NG resources including Methane Hydrates are the most abundant fossil fuel on earth, and represent a powerful untapped potential.
Estimates place the number of Methane Hydrates at 6,500 times higher than the amount of NG produced worldwide in 2006. Nearly one third of all Methane Hydrates are located within the provincial waters of the United States. (June 2007, Federal Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee Report to US Congress.)
Vehicle Conversions
Any internal combustion engine (such as today's automobiles) can run on gasoline, diesel or natural gas, without replacing the engine. After a simple and relatively inexpensive conversion, every automobile can run on NG.
In fact, most NGVs on the road today are the result of after-market conversion. This is especially important in today's automotive industry, where standardized engines are the slowest component in an automobile to be overhauled during manufacturing. After conversion to NG, a simple switch enables vehicles to change back and forth from NG to gasoline.
Recently, automakers have begun to sell factory made, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) NGVs.
The cleanest fossil fuel
After Hydrogen, Methane is the cleanest burning of all existing fuels. NG is the cleanest burning fossil fuel, and is even cleaner burning than several renewable fuels. Use of NG, particularly as a motor fuel, will have immediate and substantial effects on the environment.
High Safety Record
Natural Gas has an impeccable safety record. NG delivery infrastructure in the US is the safest way to transport energy according the U.S. Department of Transportation. The conditions in which NG will ignite are extremely rare. There are no records of fire in any NGV currently on the road. In high-speed vehicle crash tests, NG performs extremely well, as it virtually impossible to destroy a NG tank.
