It is difficult to say which of the growing number of fuel options will power
the cars of the future. But natural gas, given its domestic abundance, low price
and lesser carbon footprint, is certainly a contender, at least as far as
researchers at the federally funded Argonne National Laboratory are concerned.
Some of the same engineers there who developed the batteries now used in
electric cars have been tasked with improving natural gas powered engine
technologies, thanks to anticipated consumer demand for vehicles powered by
something cheaper and greener than gasoline but without the hassles of other
alternative fuels.
“Our conclusion is that natural gas as a transportation fuel has both adequate
abundance and cost advantages that make a strong case to focus interest in the
technology as a real game changer in U.S. energy security,” Mike Duoba, an
engineer at Argonne’s Transportation Technology Research and Development Center
outside of Chicago, told the Talking Points Memo news blog. “In terms of
consumer ownership and use costs, the case to make a switch from current fuels
to compressed natural gas (CNG) is much more compelling than for other
alternative fuels like ethanol and electricity.”
Given this promise in addition to a February 2012 Department of Energy
announcement of a $30 million competition aimed at finding ways “to harness our
abundant supplies of domestic natural gas for vehicles” Duoba and his colleague
have been ramping up vehicle systems analysis and engine research and testing
around CNG as a way to use
natural gas in cars and wean ourselves off of foreign fuel sources.
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