Should We Be Filling Our Tanks With Natural Gas?

Gasoline prices have surged over the past few weeks as political unrest in the Middle East raised fears of eventual supply interruptions. Market traders are contemplating the possibility that the U.S., at some point, may not be able to meet its energy needs.

But it turns out there is a hugely abundant supply of a fuel in North America that could run the nation's cars and trucks for decades, and cost much less than oil. Then why aren't we using it?

The fuel is compressed natural gas (CNG), the same fuel that heats millions of American homes. Using it for a motor fuel is nothing new. City buses and utility trucks have been using it for years. You can use it in a regular gasoline or diesel powered engine with only a few modifications.

Hot idea three years ago

Three years ago, when gas price surged to $4 a gallon, there was a lot of talk about CNG as a motor fuel. Investor T. Boone Pickins was among the leading proponents of the idea, pointing out that the U.S. could achieve virtual energy independence almost overnight.

But gasoline prices came down with the Great Recession and the U.S. Government and carmakers expressed more interest in electric vehicles as an answer to our energy problems. But the idea hasn't gone away.

It turns out Honda has been building a CNG powered Civic for years. The current model sells for about $26,000, compared to GM's electric Volt, which has a sticker price of more than $40,000.

The few consumers that own the Civic GX have a "filling station" in their garage. It consists of a gas line from their home, and a device to pressurize the fuel before it is put into the car's fuel tank.

Fill your tank for $7

A full tank of fuel gives the car a range of about 250 miles at a cost of $7, a significant savings over gasoline and diesel. Naturally, there are some drawbacks.

As long as you only drive 100 miles or so from home, you can refuel on your return. Trying to refuel on the road is a problem, since there are only about 1,100 CNG refueling stations in the entire country, and only about half are open to the public.

It also takes longer to fill a tank with CNG than with liquid fuel. Because of these drawbacks, CNG proponents have always suggested using the fuel to power industrial vehicles first, and only later expanding its use to consumers.

When Pickins introduced his plan three years ago, he suggested that CNG could easily replace over one-third of U.S. transportation fuels. For the fuel to reach critical mass, more gasoline stations would have to begin offering CNG pumps, and technology would need to speed up the filling process.

Among the fuel's supporters is the trade group Natural Gas Vehicles For America, which reports there are already over 110,000 vehicles on U.S. roads today, powered by CNG. According to the group, about 30 different manufacturers currently produce 100 different models of light, medium and heavy-duty CNG vehicles and engines.

Easy on the planet

There's also an environmental reason to switch to CNG as a motor fuel. Both Pickens and the Environmental Protection Agency agree that CNG is the cleanest of all motor fuels. In addition to carbon dioxide reductions, vehicles running on CNG also emit less carbon monoxide, non-methane organic gas and nitrogen oxides.

If gasoline prices and supplies remain volatile and uncertain, chances are we will begin seeing more cars on the road powered by natural gas. The International Association of Natural Gas Vehicles estimates that there will be more than 50 million natural gas vehicles worldwide within the next 10 years, or about 9 percent of the world transportation fleets.