Their goal is to improve the efficiency of the CNG combustion process so that it
can fit into a new line of engines that can run on gasoline or CNG equally as
well, giving consumers the flexibility of choice without any trade-offs. Duoba
thinks such a vehicle would have significant consumer appeal, especially in
light of sluggish sales of the latest round of electric vehicles from the major
automakers.
“At least for some time, compared to plug-in vehicle batteries, CNG storage
offers lower weight, higher energy storage and lower costs as well as faster
refueling/recharging.” And while CNG vehicles would generate emissions from
their tailpipes, the Argonne team believes that their overall emissions
footprint would be smaller than that of an electric vehicle drawing power from
the fossil-fuel-based electric grid.
But to Duoba the appeal of CNG is more about reducing America’s dependence on
foreign oil sources than on saving the planet. “Various technologies have been
successful at reducing the environmental impact (criteria pollution) over the
decades,” Duoba wrote. “To the extent that consumption of foreign petroleum has
not been reduced to acceptable levels, this could be viewed as the principal
motivation.”
But CNG faces the same major hurdle to becoming widely accepted as any other
challenger to gasoline as king of the road: a lack of refueling stations.
Whatever does finally unseat gasoline will no doubt have to have a system for
refueling that rivals the convenience we’ve come to expect from our corner gas
stations.
Sri Lanka, Colombo
Germany, Berlin
Honolulu, Hawaii
Czech Republic, Prague
Columbia, Missouri
Kazakhstan, Astana
Cape Coral, Florida
Savannah, Georgia
Montenegro, Podgorcia
Al Ghabah, United Arab Emirates, Al Ghabah, UAE