Another use for natural gas

An opinion piece by Richard Kolodziej, president of NGVAmerica. "Another use" means, of course, to power motor vehicles.

Until recently, the adoption of LNG (liquefied natural gas) and CNG (compressed natural gas) were most often a response to environmental and pollution concerns. In metropolitan areas, having CNG vehicles at the airport, shipping port, and transit system reduced smog-producing pollutants and cut greenhouse gases compared to diesel and gasoline engines.

While those environmental benefits still exist, the affordability of natural gas as a transportation fuel is now also a driving factor to market adoption.

Specific advantages of CNG include:

• Affordability: CNG typically costs half the price of gasoline.
• Abundance: CNG is a domestically produced fuel. There is more than 100 years' worth of natural gas in the United States.
• Cleaner burning: CNG produces up to 30 percent less carbon dioxide emissions, up to 75 percent less carbon monoxide and 95 percent less particulate matter than gasoline.