Natural Gas to Power Pickups
Summary: "U.S. auto makers are introducing pickup trucks powered by natural gas as they look to catch the growing wave of interest in the fuel as an alternative to gasoline"(Bennett). Several motor companies have started to feature CNG-powerd cars, which run on both natural gas and gasoline. Chrysler Group LLC has just annouced the first production line pickup truck powered by natural gas. They are promising at least 2,000 heavy duty ram bi-fuel trucks, by the end of the fourth quarter. General Motors is also offering a bi-fuel Chevrolet Silveroda and GMC Sierra. They will be made by GM and sent to a supplier that willl refitt them for compressed gas use. Ford Motors has been offering a CNG prep kits for at leats six of thier vechiles. And will soon expand this to its large Ford 650. Honda Motor Co. is also in on the CNG market, it has been selling a only natural gas car since 1998. The biggest problem with CNG cars is refueling. "Today there are fewer then 400 public CNG fueling stations in the US"(Bennett).
Reaction: I think this could be a great way to cut our oil use and emissions assuming the emissions from the CNG aren't as enviromentally harmful as those from regular gas engine cars. I really like these because I love hearing new ways to sway us from our gas operated cars and bring to a cleaner way of transportation without taking away the convenence of our personal cars. The only problem would be establishing public fuel stations all around th US. Overcoming this problem with all the money it would cost would most likely make a huge amount of jobs, experts say this industry could produece a huge 600,000 jobs by the end of this decade alone. Which is just a great plus along with helping our enviroment.
Questions:
- What did president Obama have to say about this?
- If this industry takes off what effect do you think it will have on the oil indusrty?
- Would the natural gas for these cars be cheaper then oil?
Reaction: I agree that it would be a great way to cut our oil useage, but couldn't it pose as a threat to drivers? Gas under pressure could easily pose as a hazard if there were to be a collision on the road. Regardless of that, I agree it could be helpful.
ReplyDeleteExpansion:This is an article telling how UPS is now using natural gas to power their trucks.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/u-p-s-finds-a-substitute-for-diesel-natural-gas-at-260-degrees-below-zero/
Questions:
2) I think the liftoff of the natural gas industry would lead to lower gas prices and make America less dependent on foreign oil.
1) Could this new idea be dangerous to the driver and other drivers on the road?
Reaction: I have always believed that we should be using a cleaner fossil fuel or energy source to power our vehicles. So I am glad that we have finally found a solution that can help the cars run properly and be friendly to the environment at the same time. Although, I do agree with Alec in saying that natural gas be harmful to use in vehicles, for safety reasons. If there was ever a head on crash which involved fire, the cars would burst into flames. If we could figure out how to prevent this problem, then using natural gas would be a no brainer!
ReplyDeleteExpansion: This is an article that discusses the pros and cons of natural gas cars.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/03/the-natural-gas-alternative/index.htm
Reaction:I think this a great idea. It seems like the auto makers are trying to make a difference. Any invention that decreases the United States' overuse of oil should be a good thing. I hope that they researched the safety of such a car because sometimes when scientists are trying to help develop something that decreases our use of fuel, they come up with things that hurt the environment like fracking. I am also wondering if people will buy the new CNG powered trucks and cars. Hybrid cars tend to be more expensive to buy than regular cars. Also, because there are so few places to get natural gas filled, people might think it is inconvenient.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: How much more expensive will the CNG cars be compared to regular cars?
Reaction:
ReplyDeleteThe idea of using an alternative energy source for vehicles is awesome. I feel like a lot of our pollution comes from vehicles and the energy that they use. With switching fuels there is sure to be less pollution. Also, it conserves the oil we are running out of.
Question 3:
Natural gas would probably cost more because of how it is collected. oil seems to be such a major part of cars already that it would be difficult to extract enough to correspond with that much oil.