Benefits and Safety of Natural Gas Vehicles, NGV
Using CNG and LNG as an Alternative Transportation Fuel
Feb 12, 2009
So, what is natural gas? Natural Gas is almost pure methane gas will small amounts of other hydrocarbons such as ethane, butane, propane, and pentane, most of which are removed during processing. It is odorless, colorless and non-corrosive.
Natural Gas is stored as either Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG):
Most NGVs used Natural Gas in the form of CNG, this is when Natural Gas is compressed in its gaseous form at about 3,100 psi. LNG is Natural Gas in liquid form. When Natural Gas is cooled below -161 degrees Celsius (-259 degrees Fahrenheit) it changes state to a clear liquid.
LNG is under high pressure to keep it in liquid form. LNG takes more handling procedures based on the extremely low temperature.
Why Natural Gas?
Natural Gas is a clean burning fuel due to its high octane rating of about 120. It emits very low levels of pollutants from combustion. It is low cost and very abundant in the United States. Since Natural Gas is lighter than air, it does not cause any ground water contamination like many liquid fuels.
Natural Gas currently accounts for about 24% of energy used in the United States and approximately 3% of that is as a transportation fuel, most commonly in fleet vehicles, such as buses, taxis, forklifts, delivery and waste trucks.
According to Consumer Energy Center (ConsumErenergyCenter.org), "More than 99 percent of the Natural Gas used in the United States comes from domestic or other North American sources." This is a huge advantage in reducing dependency on foreign oil.
Natural Gas Vehicles Safety
Despite popular believe Natural Gas Vehicles are very safe. The tanks are built to withstand over double the usable pressure and are tested to withstand extreme safety tests. In the event of a leak Natural Gas dissipates into the air, unlike most fuels which create potentially dangerous and volatile puddles on the ground which could also contaminate water supply.
According to the "Technology Committe Bulletin," (CleanVehicle.org) revised on January 31, 2008, "Natural gas vehicles have been used in the US since the early 1980s, with over 90,000 in use today. Yet there has been only one fatality in the US caused by an NGV fueling system failure in all that time." This is an outstanding record for safety.
Natural Gas Vehicle Emissions
According to Natural Gas Vehicles For America (ngvc.org) Typical dedicated NGVs can reduce exhaust emissions of:
- Carbon monoxide (CO) by 70 percent
- Non-methane organic gas (NMOG) by 87 percent
- Nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 87 percent
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) by almost 20 percent below those of gasoline vehicles.
This makes NGVs some of the cleanest vehicles on the road.
2009 Honda Civic GX
Honda is doing its part to create low emissions vehicles. On the market today there is only one retail NGV (Natural Gas Vehicle) that you can buy straight from the show room. The 2009 Honda Civic GX is an AT-PZEV (Advanced Technology Partial Zero-Emission Vehicle).
It is certified by California Air Resources Board (CARB) and by states that have adopted California emissions standards. This vehicle has very clean tail pipe emissions, much cleaner than gasoline vehicle emissions.
Incentives for NGVs
There are incentives set by the state, local and federal government to encourage the use of NGVs. See Incentives (www.ngvc.org) for more information.
