Posted on 08/31/2012 8:27:03 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Would you pay $2.14 for a gallon of gas?
I know I would. According to AAA, the nationwide average for a gallon of gasoline is $3.80... Diesel is even more expensive at $4.06.
Yet despite high fuel costs across the country, a select group of drivers are paying only $2.14 a gallon... more than $1.50 below the national average.
What's the catch?
To be honest, there isn't one. These drivers aren't getting some "special deal," and this isn't some publicity stunt that's only available to a select few. They're simply filling up their tanks with a different kind of transportation fuel.
Let me explain...
During the past decade, new technologies like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have unlocked waves of natural gas reserves that were previously thought inaccessible. As a result, gas prices have plummeted to below $3 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf)... well below the 10-year high of $10.79 hit in 2008.
With natural gas prices hovering near record lows, companies across the board are looking for ways to take advantage of the new cheap energy source... and who better to benefit than the transportation industry?
All over the nation, companies with heavy transportation costs are introducing vehicles that run off natural gas into their regular operations. Just last year, UPS added 48 trucks that run off natural gas to its shipping fleet, which brings the total number of vehicles in its fleet running on natural gas to 1,100.
Right now, the compressed natural gas (CNG) equivalent to a gallon of gasoline costs on average $2.14. With over 110,000 natural-gas vehicles already diving on U.S. roads -- and CNG prices roughly $1.50 per gallon cheaper than gasoline -- the number of CNG vehicles on the road is going nowhere but up.
But while there's ample incentive for truck owners to switch from diesel to CNG, there's still one big obstacle: lack of infrastructure.
After all, you wouldn't want to be on a lonely stretch of highway somewhere on the outskirts of Omaha running on 'E' without a CNG station in sight.
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE REST...
With everything, that’s not including future demand. Prices will go up. It will be interesting if it will remain cheaper than gasoline.
What coupons were these?
The conversion is easy and the vehicles reliable. Even growing up in the early 80’s there were a small number of farmers that had LP equipped pickup trucks.
The downside, besides pressurized fueling, is that LP isn’t as powerful as gasoline. I assume that means less miles per gallon, as well as a little less pep. Therefore, the comparison needs to be on cost per mile, not per gallon.
Sometimes when I can’t get an old mower to start, I take off the aircleaner and set up a propane torch to dump raw LP into the air intake. It ALWAYS fires right up and runs like hell. A minute or two at high RPM cleans out the carbon, etc. and they then run great.
Companies like UPS are going big into natural gas for their trucks. When enough do, it will reduce the demand for gasoline, reducing the cost.
And, they are doing it without federal govt support. If anything, the federal govt is getting in the way, because natural gas is at odds with Obama’s vision of electric vehicles.
Companies like UPS are converting vehicles from Diesel to NatGas, so the price of gasoline will not be effected, much if any. The price of diesel might go down, though.
you can buy kits to do so for about $200, IIRC, making it tri-fuel(gas,propane,CNG)
I worked for a city in So. Cal., and they provided cars to groups of employees who would commit to long-term car pooling. Had to be groups of 3+ in one car. The cars were CNG fueled — Civics, I think.
What a pain. Running out of gas was not an option, since CNG fuel stations were sparse, and you can’t just have someone bring a gallon. Fueling took for-EV-er, and you couldn’t count on the two pumps to work when you needed to fill up. And it wasn’t like fill-ups were less frequent than with a regular car.
(Still, I’m grateful for the money we saved over the three years I participated. It was a great benefit.)
More manufacturers are offering CNG bi-fuel or dealer installed conversions.
CNG is simplier than e-fuel injection, so no extra issues with mechanic.
More CNG stations are coming online.
NG abundance for long forseeable future and methane is renewable.
It does give lowered miles per gallon, but not lowered enough to offset the per gallon cost differential.
Engines run cleaner, less maintenance.
As to trunk space, my preference would be a CNG pickup, not a dinky car.
“As to trunk space, my preference would be a CNG pickup, not a dinky car.”
I’m not interested in a dinky car, either. I need a car to transport wife and kids, and our stuff, in decent comfort for a long trip. I’m thinking of a CNG Crown Victoria , WITH A USABLE TRUNK!
For CNG to take off, we need coupes, trucks, sedans, wagons, hardtops, SUVs, vans .., ALL of it.
If you could get the right equipment, you could install a compressor / tank assembly that pressurizes the gas in your home gas line and fill up from the house.
Don’t like the idea of gubmit subsidy, but to make such a significant change from gasoline to CNG, will need tax incentive help to establish infastructure for large trucks and autos/pickups.
If we could move transportation to CNG, it would shut the door to Arab oil imports.
I look for it to happen in the next four years.
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