Compressed Natural Gas: An Energy Solution Ready to Go

Yet another of Barack Obama’s green initiatives has hit the skids with the production stoppage of the Chevy Volt. You remember, this is the “all electric”…no…sort of all electric car…that was supposed to revolutionize how we drive. In theory, it was supposed to get 40 miles on a 12 hour battery charge, unless you decided you needed some things like heat or a radio or a windshield wiper, in which case the mileage would drop dramatically. Let’s not forget the huge government subidy given by Obama to General Motors to make the car, and the even larger tax credits given to those that bought it.

Notwithstanding rising gas prices, it’s an idea whose time is yet to come. An article in Business Week this past week has said conventional gasoline engines are more efficient than ever, with models like the Chevy Cruze getting better mileage per gallon than a Prius and other hybrids. Good for our valley!!!! And good for General Motors!!!!!

This past week the Vindicator ran a story about a company coming into our valley and installing a number of CNG (compressed natural gas) pumps to service the area vehicles that run on compressed natural gas. These are primarily busses, trucks, and government owned vehicles. The story was interesting because of the lack of fanfare and its matter of fact tone. Compressed natural gas? Who is paying any attention to that when the electric cars are grabbing the headlines?

As in all things technological, both the market place and regulators have to pick which new technology the nation is going to follow.  An example would be beta max or VHS recorders,  what are the standards for compact discs, or which technology would be used for High Definition Television. In the vehicular alternative energy choice, it appeared to be a three way battle: ethanol, electricity, or compressed natural gas.

The farmers pushed for ethanol, but since our climate would force us to rely on corn, the moral issue of using food for fuel was debated. Ultimately it was decided this wasn’t the way to go because it took more energy to produce the ethanol than it saved by using it in cars. That left natural gas and electricity.

This was a battle of the titans. T. Boone Pickens jumped into bed with Barack Obama pushing compressed natural gas as he bought up company after company that owned natural gas reserves. In the other corner was Jeff Imelt of General Electric, who did more than jump into bed with Obama. He stuck his head full up Obama’s posterior, and it became obvious that Obama was going to turn his back on compressed natural gas in favor of electricity and his best bud...Jeff Imelt.

And they were off to the races with government grants and tax credits for General Electric. Of course, one shouldn’t be surprised Obama was enamored by the electric cars. He hates fossil fuels, period, end of discussion. In his America, electricity would be produced by massive solar farms, and cars would plug into all of this power at home in our garages at night and the world would be as right as rain. Imelt drank the Kool Aid and took the money taking General Electric to the forefront of the electric car revolution by investing in the solar panel business full tilt. More importantly, it began the process of building and installing a 1.5 million electric charging stations throughout the United States.

Unfortunately for GE, and for the United States, the automobile manufacturing business ran smack into the limits of the car battery. It takes 12 hours to charge the battery to go probably 20 to 30 miles. In addition, the Volt battery had a penchant to catch fire…they run hot!!!! The government has decreed that there is nothing wrong with the Volt battery, but for some reason Americans don’t believe the government anymore on any of this stuff.  I wonder why!!!!

Meanwhile, gasoline prices have skyrocketed due to bum American foreign policy in the Mideast. But surprise, surprise…the market has begun to work bringing compressed natural gas to the forefront. It turns out that America is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas, and it has gotten so inexpensive that it has become THE alternative to the gasoline engine. Cost wise, a “gallon” of compressed natural gas would be $1.77 vs. $3.75 for a gallon of gasoline.

Compressed natural gas is something America can use now to alleviate a whole lot of problems if the infrastructure were in place to provide for it. Here’s why:

1) The technology already exists to make this work. CNG busses and trucks are already in mass operation and Honda already “mass produces” a CNG car priced at around $24,000.00.

2) Although the efficiency of the engine is only slightly less than the most efficient gasoline engine, the overall cost of operation is substantially lower.

3) It is a clean engine, and releases practically no CO2 into the atmosphere. That makes it attractive to the global warming whack jobs.

4) Existing cars can actually be retrofitted to use CNG, albeit a bit pricey to do so.

5) There is plenty of natural gas in the United States to make us energy independent for years to come.

Barack Obama is right about one thing. America needs to move to alternative energy that is renewable as the supply of oil and natural gas is not infinite. But CNG provides an immediate alternative while America searches for that renewable energy source.

In my humble opinion, I think electric cars will serve some purpose in our transportation future, but the battery brick wall is a tough one to get around, and disposal of those batteries, and the availability of the trace elements used to make them (they are in the mountains of Afghanistan) are a problem. The future will be in algae growth and waste conversion, and my choice hydrogen propelled cars (the technology is there and the by-product is water).

But compressed natural gas can be the bridge to the future while science and our government work to find a practical solution…and they are close to do doing so. In a speech last week, Obama seems to have seen the light and announced new government initiatives aimed at the development of compressed natural gas. It was a good speech. But his track record with promises surrounding fossil fuels is abysmal and I put very little faith in his promises when it comes to oil and gas.

On the other hand, the free market knows cheap fuel when it sees it, and it just may develop on its own…the way all things worthwhile in America happen.