alt.energy.renewable

>Roland Mösl wrote:
>> ""Blattus Slafaly £ ¥ 0/00 :)""
>> schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:47c0cb0f$0$1098$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>>> Compressed Natural Gas is cheaper in Europe than gasoline and can run
>>> in regular internal combustion engines with new injectors. Has much
>>> fewer C02's and pollution emissions. Is the US looking into it? Fuck no.
>>
>> Most CNG cars are very inefficient
>>
>> The Renault Kangoo is in several versions available
>>
>> 8,3 kg CNG for 100km city traffic
>>
>> or the Clanova II
>> 14,4 kWh electric power for 100km city traffic
>>
>> 1kg natural gas can produce in a modern gas power plant
>> as much electric power as to drive the Kangoo
>> 53 km in city traffic, more than 4 times more.
>>
>> http://car.pege.org/2007-co2-mobility/renault-kangoo-city-traffic.htm
>>
>>
>CNG is a liquid.
Parse it out, for Pete's sake!
C=Compressed
N=Natural
G=gas

CNG is compressed natural gas, and it is composed of (almost entirely) methane, CH4,
stored under pressure in cylinders.

Yes, there is such a thing as LNG, Liquefied Natural Gas, but it is a cryogenic liquid,
and has to be stored in insulated, unpressurized vessels.

CNG, or LNG can be, and are used as motor fuel, but make a relatively poor motor fuel
because they have a low energy density, and require tanks that are quite heavy in relation
to the capacity.

The gas utility in Calgary, Alberta runs a fleet of CNG vehicles, but privately-owned CNG
vehicles are rare if they exist at all. Consumers see no peceived benefit in using the
stuff. Twenty-odd years ago, there were MANY privately-owned LPG (propane) fuelled cars
and pickups in that same marketplace. Nearly every taxicab was on propane. Why? First,
there was a government subsidy available to finance doing a conversion to an existing car.
Second, there was a bubble in the LPG supply, and there was no road tax collected on LPG
sales. Result: for high-mileage users, there was a net benefit in switching to propane.

So, the LPG oversupply evaporated, the province began collecting road tax, and the feds
withdrew the conversion subsidy. At the same time, gasoline-powered cars went from
relatively inefficient carburetors to closed-loop EFI systems, with improvements in both
fuel consumption and in emissions. There is no longer any advantage to be gained by
switching a modern vehicle from gasoline to propane (or CNG, for that matter). Not in
operating economy; not in terms of tailpipe emissions.

As long as liquid hydrocarbon fuels continue to be so convenient, and so readily
available, it seems like a fool's errand to switch to a less convenient fuel that will be
subject to the SAME inherent supply constraints as crude oil.

Gordon Richmond