Natural Gas Powered Transportation - Where Is It?

image via Fahad.com

This December, in Copenhagen, Denmark, an international group will meet to discuss the possibility of a treaty on Climate action. Many of us will be urging our governments to embrace such a treaty and to impose climate action legislation in our home countries. And many more will be doing what we can to reduce our own carbon footprints and that means that many of us will be researching and buying alternative fuel vehicles.

In most cases, an alternative fuel vehicle is most likely to be a hybrid, but a number of people will also purchase electric cars. Vehicles powered by bio-diesel will also continue to be popular. What you don’t see a lot of on the roads are cars powered by natural gas.

Where Are the Natural Gas Powered Cars?

In the past, a lot of government and corporate interest (money) was on the future of hydrogen fuel, with the ironic part being that most of the hydrogen fuel in the U.S. is developed from converting natural gas. In 2007, less than 1,000 of Honda’s Civic subcompacts sold were powered using natural gas, with most of those going to corporations and government agencies and only select dealerships in California or New York could sell to individuals. Though this year’s international auto show in Germany featured natural gas powered vehicles, the lion’s share of the press went to electric cars.

The plain fact is that, although Honda continues to sell natural gas powered cars, they are one of the few manufacturers in the U.S. that do. The top countries buying natural gas vehicles are (according to a report by Pike Research) Brazil, Pakistan, India, Argentina, and Iran. The report forecasts that demand will grow in the U.S. and Canada over the next five years, but it will be headed up by more corporations and government agencies. Behind this demand will be new data indicating that the U.S. has deeper than previously known reservoirs of natural gas, making it a good choice to power large fleets of vehicles. Even though it isn’t a sustainable resource, it burns cleaner than biofuel, so it has less impact on the environment and some environmentalists feel this is acceptable, though others are concerned about the conservation of potential drilling sites.

Whether or not consumers will follow corporations in this trend is a question for which the answer remains up in the air. Ford and other manufacturers say they have seen consumer interest in and demand for natural gas powered cars steadily declining since their first offerings and that if the trend doesn’t significantly change, most natural gas options for consumers will disappear as Ford and GM’s natural gas pickups have already done.

So Why Aren’t There More Natural Gas Powered Cars?

Though converting a car to use natural gas requires a loss of cargo space, so do many fuel-cell cars. Though natural gas vehicles have a more limited range than hybrids, so do electric cars. But, though natural gas is less expensive than ethanol made from corn, which has driven food prices up as farmers plant for gas rather than the supermarket, finding a place to fill up a natural gas vehicle is much more difficult than finding a biofuel pump.

Auto manufacturers say demand is low because consumers aren’t interested in changing. That hardly seems likely, given the rise in hybrid car and electric car purchases matching the rise in gas prices, including biodiesel. It seems more likely that the American consumer hasn’t bought a natural gas powered vehicle because he or she doesn’t know they are available and may be afraid that there will be no where to fill up if they did have one.

Home filling solutions may put an end to refilling worries, but will information about natural gas powered cars circulate enough to increase demand for them among the public? We may know in the next five years, not only because natural gas may come to be favored for corporate and government fleets but also because the merger of Daimler and Fiat could bring a new player into the U.S. natural gas vehicle market.

In the meantime, it is worthwhile to continue reducing your carbon footprint by sharing your vehicle – however it’s powered – with a compatible match. With Halloween at our fingertips, the holiday season will soon be in full swing and there will be travelers and shoppers everywhere. Whether it’s a trip to the airport or a trip to the mall, reduce gas usage and save yourself parking headaches through social ridesharing.

International Day of Climate Action - October 24, 2009

The National Research Council, which is part of the U.S.’s National Research Academies (Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) has released a report on the hidden health and environmental costs of energy production and consumption. The news release from their office of Public Information says:

The committee that wrote the report focused on monetizing the damage of major air pollutants -- sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, and particulate matter – on human health, grain crops and timber yields, buildings, and recreation. When possible, it estimated both what the damages were in 2005 (the latest year for which data were available) and what they are likely to be in 2030, assuming current policies continue and new policies already slated for implementation are put in place.

The committee also separately derived a range of values for damages from climate change; the wide range of possibilities for these damages made it impossible to develop precise estimates of cost. However, all model results available to the committee indicate that climate-related damages caused by each ton of CO2 emissions will be far worse in 2030 than now; even if the total amount of annual emissions remains steady, the damages caused by each ton would increase 50 percent to 80 percent.

This is a must-read.

This Saturday, October 24, more than 170 countries will participate in an International Day of Climate Action. There will be greater than 4,000 events with images and stories uploaded over the day to websites and the huge screens on Times Square in New York City.

Why Now?

The current climate talks in Europe are not going well. The U.S. is dragging its feet and so are other large industrial consumers of coal and oil. In December, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark and attempt to write the foundation for a treaty on global climate change. They need to know that the planet doesn’t have time for pettiness and selfishness. The National Research Council’s report makes it clear that the energy being consumed now is already causing increased damage to our health, our food, how we live, and where we play. The International Day of Climate Action will provide demonstrable proof of consensus is asking for immediate and adequate action.
Participate by listing yourself as ready for a change on the 350.org site (Sponsors), by adding your blog voice, by creating an event for Saturday, or by going to one.

Don’t Wait

Every day the number of people, animals, and plants injured by pollutants rises. You don’t have to give money. You don’t have to give up a huge chunk of time. You only have to live your convictions. Be part of the solution. Start with adding your name to the list of those who are telling the politicians that we want this climate treaty. Continue by reducing your carbon footprint as much as you can. Global warming doesn’t just affect you; it is you.

Why Your Carbon Footprint Matters (Blog Action Day 09)

For Blog Action Day 09, I was approached by the World Wildlife Fund about their “Act for Our Future” campaign and asked to include them in this post. As a Veterinarian and an environmentalist, I am happy to do so. But instead of talking about what they do, I want to make this post about you.

Do I Really Count?

Over the years I’ve met so many people who have told me they don’t think they can make a difference; that their individual efforts could not amount to much and that it was so dispiriting to even try when they saw how industries brought their financial guns to bear on Washington, D.C. through their lobbyists.

And I would be lying if I didn’t say that I have felt that same disappointment and cynicism. Sometimes it is challenging to think that any one of us has any power to affect the kind of change that’s needed.

But You’re Not Alone

You may not get together with hundreds or thousands of people on the Mall in D.C. to protest or even dozens of people at your local city park, but what you do as an individual matters. If you’re composting, buying local, buying fair trade, ridesharing, recycling, adopting a shelter animal or just picking up and disposing of someone’s discarded cigarette, you’re helping. And the cumulative effect of all of us individuals helping is making a difference.

The Ozone Layer May Be Healing

Once upon a time, a number of people didn’t believe there was damage being done to the ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons. Then they didn’t think that all CFC’s needed to be banned (see previous link). But they were all wrong. Now it seems that the early efforts of individual scientists to report facts on this phenomenon as well as the willingness of world leaders to take fairly quick action on it may be paying off.

Climate change continues to be disputed by some but even some of the worst offenders have begun to change direction. This is because individual voices have flowed together to create a river that governments and industry can’t help but hear.

And that is the point: your individual efforts on behalf of reducing your carbon footprint will reverberate in all of the areas affected, which is pretty much everywhere, from the wildlife habitats to the ozone and beyond. Never doubt that. But your efforts will go farther if, besides making changes to your own life, you lend your voice to the chorus calling for climate change legislation. Just as with the ozone layer, many individual voices can make a difference in the way we live in and affect the future of our planet.

Please join ZoomPool and the WWF in acting for our future by making your voice heard by your government representatives.

Frankfurt Auto Show 2009

Although we didn't get to go to Frankfurt, we were very interested to read about some of the new concept cars shown there recently. There were quite a few electric cars, and some hybrids and even one car that could be powered from 3 different platforms.

There were two from Tesla, one of which was a highly tricked out sport style crafted by Brabus, part of a new division the independent tuner is calling the "Brabus Low Emission Vehicles" and it's customized to the max. Given what the Tesla costs anyway, this will not be the vehicle of the masses. There was also a Tesla Model S, which can accommodate seven!

The Ford Focus BEV was there - it was also shown earlier at the Detroit Auto Show, where it was announced that Ford will begin production of this car in 2011. The car shown in Frankfurt looked a little different from the concept model test driven by All Cars Electric in January. At that time a vice-president at Ford said she thought the car would have a 100 mile range. Cnet reported the Frankfort model as having a 75 mile range with a top speed of 85mph. As far as cost, no one has heard any dollar amounts being applied, but All Cars Electric seems to think it would be above $20,000.

Volkswagen debuted an Electric version of the Up!, a model they expect to put into production, possibly by 2013. The E-Up! includes a solar panel on the roof which is designed to assist in powering the car's electrical system and a fan to keep the interior cool when the car is parked. Like the Ford, it is powered by a lithium ion battery and will have an 80 mile range. Autoblog has both a feature and Volkswagen's own press release for this "Beetle for the New Millennium."

Peugeot introduced the Ion, but it's not really their design; it's a rebadged Mitsubishi, and Renault showed a concept car which is part of their quest to be one of the leaders in electric cars, with production starting in 2011. Their concept was called the "Zoe Z.E." Both it and the Ion are lithium ion battery powered.

One of the stars of the show was the new Audi e-tron, with its lithium ion batteries mounted in the back to provide weight for more traction. It is rated at 0 to 62 in 4.8 seconds compared to the usual 0-60 in 14 or 15 seconds for electric cars. And it will have a range of around 150 miles. Very sporty and attracted to those of us who love performance cars.

BMW's concept "Vision" uses a diesel motor on the rear axel and an electric motor in the front; an example of what BMW calls "efficient dynamics" that claims to put out only 99g of CO2 per km.

Also at Frankfurt was Daimler AG, which showed Mercedes Benz hybrids and the "Blue Zero E-cell plus" electric car with range extender. It's a technology that allows them to use architecture for a single car to create three different drive systems.

It appears that the car companies are really taking an electric car seriously - at least in Europe. Paul Scott of Plug In America was quoted in Hybrid Cars saying he thought Frankfurt showed a shift in attitude by car makers.

The hybrids are now all on their way from Frankfurt to the Tokyo Motor Show held later this month. It will be interesting to see what kind of statement the Japanese auto designers make.

One thing is certain - if the intense interest shown by manufacturers towards electric cars continues, it may be the environment and those of us living in it who will benefit. In the meantime, however, it remains in our best interests to reduce our individual carbon footprint as much as we can and ridesharing is a good option, especially if you can share with someone compatible, as you can with ZoomPool!