There are other disadvantages of using Compressed Natural Gas. Years ago my agency did an experiment with a Chevy Caprice with a 350 V8 converted to use CNG (or the default, regular gasoline). The guys who had to use that car hated it, because the 3 huge CNG tanks almost completely filled the trunk, yet the range of those tanks filled at the start of a shift would only last about half of an 8 hour shift, and the only place they could be refilled was at the natural gas company's shop. Also the performance of the car using CNG was much less than the performance using gasoline, but that might have been a tuning problem. Some of the guys using that car also worried about what might happen if they were involved in a collision where they were rear-ended. The natural gas in the tanks was under extreme pressure. After about 6 months the experiment ended and the natural gas equipment was removed. It was decided that CNG was just not very practical for patrol car use, at least with the technology we had in the early 80's.
On the positive side, I think that the compressed natural gas was very inexpensive (partly because there were no road taxes on it). Also I bet the engine in that car would have lasted much longer than a normal carburated engine, due to much better fuel atomization, similar to recent port fuel injected engines.
This country has huge reserves of natural gas, of which only a small proportion is propane. It is too bad that methane will not liquify at reasonable temperatures and pressures, but it will not. Maybe someday technology will come up with a way to convert methane to a more energy dense liquid fuel that is stable at low, safe pressures and normal temperatures. Propane is a great fuel, fairly convenient and safe, and super high octane rated, but I don't think its price compared to diesel or gasoline comes out very well considering BTU's per given volume.
Technology marches on! Maybe someday using natural gas to power personal transportation will be practical and commonplace. I don't think it is these days, at least for most people.
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Today's Featured Article - The Nuts and Bolts of Fasteners - Part 2 - by Curtis Von Fange. In our previous article we discussed capscrews, bolts, and nuts along with their relative hardness and thread sizes. In this segment we will finish up on our fasteners and then work with ways to keep them from loosening up in the field. Capscrews, bolts and nuts are not the only means of holding two parts together. When dealing with thinner metals like sheet tin, a long bolt and
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