On the Road to “Green” with “C.N.G.” Hatcher
A great revolution is on the horizon in the way we hit the road. It’s not electric; it’s not even hybrid. It’s CNG–compressed natural gas. And it can save you BIG bucks at the pump.
There are over 10 million CNG vehicles in operation around the globe, including more than 800,000 in Europe. With only 150,000 in the U.S., we have some catching up to do.
Gulf Breeze Natural Gas is working on plans to lead the change to become the cleanest and greenest driving community on the Gulf Coast. Read on about…
Natural Gas on Wheels–Part 3. Filling up and “Philling” up with Natural Gas
Part 1 – The CNG Revolution (Posted October 2011)
Take a look at these facts and forecasts:
In 2010 the U.S. became the world’s biggest producer of natural gas even as we imported more oil than any other country.
Energy market experts believe that gasoline at the pump will cost more than $4.00 a gallon by 2012.
Compressed natural gas (CNG), which is the type of natural gas used in vehicles, costs a lot less than gasoline on average. Right now (June 29, 2011), gasoline is about $3.459 a gallon. An equivalent amount of CNG here in Gulf Breeze would be $1.35. That’s a savings of $2.109 per gallon!
The rest of the world got the message some time ago that CNG is Clean, Natural, Green–and economical, as you read in the introduction to this article. Even oil-rich Iran has over 600,000 CNG vehicles in operation.
There’s a green revolution happening on the road in America. It’s not electric; it’s not even hybrid. It’s Compressed Natural Gas. The folks here at Gulf Breeze Natural Gas are getting ready to join the revolution–are you?
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Part 2 — Meet the Honda Civic Natural Gas (Posted January 2012)
Watching the Honda Civic Natural Gas race by, you’d think it was a regular Honda with its sleek, aerodynamic design and great performance. And you’d be almost right. But there’s something very special about this Civic: It runs on compressed natural gas, which makes it the greenest vehicle in America. In fact, it has won top honors as the “Greenest Vehicle in America” for the past 8 years from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. And Green Car Journal chose it as the “2012 Green Car of the Year.” It’s even cleaner and more energy-saving than electric cars. We’ll tell you more about that another time.
- The Honda Civic Natural Gas features:
- A 1.8-liter, four-cylinder, 16-valve SOHC i-VTEC® aluminum engine
- 110 horsepower at 6,500 rpm
- Torque of 106 lb.-ft. at 4,300 rpm
- Compression ratio of 12.7:1
- Mileage rating of 27 miles per gas-equivalent in the city and 38 on the highway
- Fuel tank capacity of 8.1 gasoline-gallon equivalents (GGEs) at 3,600 psi
- EPA-estimated driving range of 250 miles per tank of GGEs
To accommodate the compressed natural gas tank, you do give up some trunk storage space. The Natural Gas Civic has 6.1 cubic feet of storage, half the space of the conventional Civic LX.
The U.S. EPA estimates that CNG vehicles produce 20 to 30% fewer greenhouse gases than conventional vehicles, reduce nitrous oxide emissions by 35 to 60%, and carbon monoxide by up to 97%. Natural-gas combustion also produces fewer carcinogens and almost no particulates.
And your fuel cost to operate the Natural Gas Civic is going to be at least 35% less than the conventional gasoline model.
Right now the closest auto dealers that sell the Honda Civic Natural Gas are in Tallahassee and Birmingham. As demand grows, CNG vehicles will become more available. Fiat, the leading CNG automaker in Europe, is taking a serious look at making a CNG Fiat available in the U.S. To increase demand, of course, we’ve got to make it easy to fuel CNG vehicles.
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Clean Energy with Dinogas (video)
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Part 3–Filling up and “PHILLing” up with Natural Gas (Posted May 2012)
So we’ve got you seriously thinking about making your next car a CNG (compressed natural gas) vehicle. You know that the only model available in America right now is the Honda Civic Natural Gas. You have two questions: How much is the car going to cost, and how and where do you fill it up?
The 2012 manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the Honda Civic Natural Gas is $26,305, and the natural gas industry is working hard to get federal tax credits on CNG vehicle purchases renewed.
There are two ways to fill up a CNG vehicle tank: fast-fill stations and home fueling appliances or “Phills.”
Refueling at a natural gas station is nearly as fast as filling your tank at a gasoline station. There are about 1,100 natural gas fueling stations in the U.S., and that number continues to grow as more and more businesses switch their fleet vehicles to natural gas.
There is a fast-fill station in Milton, and the City of Pensacola is planning four stations, though they won’t be available for public use for a couple of years. The great progressive City of Gulf Breeze, however, is working on plans to build a fast-fill station for both public and fleet use right here on Highway 98 in downtown Gulf Breeze. Our goal is to have it up and operating by next year.
In the meantime, you could get a FuelMaker Phill Home Refueling Unit installed in your garage and hooked up to your home’s natural gas supply. This unit compresses the natural gas to 3600 psi and fills your tank at the rate of half a GGE (gasoline gallon equivalent) per hour. If you had a natural gas vehicle today, you’d be paying approximately $1.75 per “gallon” instead of $3.50-plus for gasoline!
Note: “C.N.G.” Hatcher may not be A.J. Foyt, but he’s our very own CNG vehicle and auto racing expert, also sometimes known as Super Energy Man!
CNG=Clean. Natural. Green.