Are Natural Gas Cars a long term solution? by Steve Longoria

While natural gas is not a renewable energy source as it, too, is a fossil fuel, it is far more plentiful than oil. Also, the United States currently has plenty of it, making natural gas an obvious way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil sources. Not only that, but it's noticeably less expensive. A 'gallon' of natural gas costs about a third of a gallon of gasoline, and the price is far more stable than that of oil.

Natural gas cars run much, much cleaner than gasoline and diesel cars, saving wear and tear on the engine. Test results show that natural gas cars produce up to 20% less greenhouse gas emissions than comparable gasoline vehicles and up to 15% less than comparable diesel vehicles. Obviously, if we have to use a fossil fuel - even in the short term - natural gas is the way to go.

Natural gas car engines work very similar to gasoline engines in that the gas combines with air and a spark ignites it. Their tanks are different, however, as is the engine design. But what might strike natural gas car owners, at least at first, is the refueling system.

A natural gas car can be filled in about the same time it takes to fill a "regular" tank, or a "slow fill" method - generally found at home - can be used that takes up to 8 hours. Today there are over 1,500 natural gas filling stations in the US, plus a natural gas car owner can actually purchase a personal natural gas pump that hooks into their home gas line.

There are some downsides to driving a natural gas car, of course. A tank of natural gas only has a range of about half the distance of a gas tank and, unlike hybrid vehicles, there's no backup gas tank so, when you're out of natural gas, you're really out of gas.

There are some complaints that natural gas cars don't have as much room as gasoline cars because of the size of the fuel tanks. Plus, as the tanks are built far more sturdily than gas tanks, the price of a natural gas car tends to be hire.

Not only that but, as mentioned before, natural gas is a fossil fuel that will run out. But driving a natural gas car is certainly a better, safer option in the meantime.

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