The huge gulf oil disaster has recently brought to light what many activists have been fighting for years. The U.S. is so dependent on oil that we are willing to destroy ways of life and marine life in the gulf coast area. Now i’m not blaming people here, but there are several alternatives to oil that have been around for almost 30 years such as CNG vehicle technology. Why are we then forced to use oil for our vehicles?
The government used to make car makers dedicate a certain percentage of their fleet to alternative fuel vehicles. that is why you will be able to find many CNG vehicles that go up to a 2004 year model. Why are there no cng cars made by huge car makers after 2004? (excluding Honda) The reason is because flex fuel was invented which is a mixture of ethanol with regular petrol. This alternative fuel still relies heavily on the oil industry as opposed to CNG which does not. This once again begs the question why the government continues to force us to use oil? I’m not a government conspiracy theorist, but its an undeniable fact that the U.S. government is addicted to oil.
(Korean Federation for Environmental Movement via Associated Press)
Did you know that the U.S. has enough natural gas to allow us to completely cut off our foreign supply of oil? Did you know that unlike oil, natural gas is a renewable resource? That’s right, natural gas wells, once depleted, can refill within 5-10 years! In fact natural gas is just seeping out of the ground and we aren’t doing anything about it. Corporate greed and large corporations have recently just shown us how much they care about the environment and people’s way of life, which is not at all. It’s time for us at U.S. citizens to step up and commission our legislators to push to make CNG conversions easier to obtain and to make them easier to legalize in all 50 states.
There is no disputing that CNG is better for the environment, runs cleaner, and helps engines double and even triple their normal life cycles. To help stop the brutal killing of life and ways of life that oil continues to carry out, we need to stand up and start using the resources here in our own country that is just seeping out of the ground anyway.
If you are thinking of purchasing or converting a car to CNG, you have probably been wondering what the pros and cons are. Well we have put together a list of pros and cons so that you can get a better idea of what really comes with owning a CNG vehicle.
Pros:
- If you convert a regular car to a CNG vehicle, you have essentially created a dual fuel car. This means that the car can run on either CNG or regular gas. This gives you a lot of flexibility and can greatly increase the amount of miles you can go in your car using both the CNG and gasoline tank.
- Natural gas burns much cleaner that regular gas and in so doing will help your engine to last much longer. It is quite common for a CNG car to go way over the 500 thousand mile mark.
- Natural gas is much cheaper than gasoline. The national average is $.79 cents per gallon for CNG as opposed to high gas prices well above the $2.75 per gallon range.
- All of the Natural Gas in the USA is from the good old USA. This means there is no foreign dependence for CNG which gives the nation a much greater stability when it comes to prices
- Natural Gas is a renewable resource whereas oil is not. Natural gas wells, once depleted, will refill within about 5 to 10 years and the USA is overly abundant in the supply of natural gas.
Cons:
- CNG conversion kits can cost between $2,500 to $5,000 dollars to buy and install
- Natural gas stations are not available everywhere throughout the USA. You will need to check your local area and see if there are stations available before going gung ho to add a CNG kit to your car.
- If you buy a CNG dedicated car, like a Honda CIVIC NGV, you can only run the car on natural gas. To run your car on both gasoline or Natural Gas, you must install a CNG conversion kit to a gasoline car.
In conclusion, there are pros and cons, but if you live in an area with CNG stations, the pros far outweigh the cons. With your car lasting much longer, and the money you save from low CNG gas prices, the kit will easily pay for itself within the first 5 years. CNG is the wave of the future, and people and government need to push harder to make this the new transportation staple.
Many people have heard of CNG cars, mainly because of the Honda Civic NGV, but what exactly is a natural gas conversion kit? Natural gas conversion for cars has existed for several years and is nothing new. Basically, natural gas conversion for cars uses aluminum composite tanks and a CNG kit to inject Natural gas into the engine block while shutting off the passage of gasoline. The switching between gasoline and natural gas usually is initiated by the driver pushing a button or flipping a switch.
The amazing thing about adding a natural gas conversion kit to your car is that they are perfectly safe and help your car to last much longer. Natural gas burns much cleaner than oil, and because such, it is very common to see CNG cars with conversion kits go pass the 500K mile mark with ease. In order to install a CNG kit you will need to make sure that you have enough room in your car to install a CNG tank while having enough room to carry passengers and cargo. SUV’s and trucks are some of the best vehicles to install a CNG kit on as they have lots of room.
Many people wonder if you get better mileage on CNG or if it’s about the same. The answer is you get a little bit better mileage running the car on CNG, however, the CNG tanks cannot hold near what a gasoline tank can. Because of this it is great to have the option to switch to gas when your CNG tanks are running low.
Natural gas conversion for cars is very common and completely doable. The best thing to do is to find a certified CNG installer so that you can make sure the job is done right as they have to configure your car’s computer to work with Natural Gas intake. If you want to save the environment and save money, natural gas conversion kits are a great solutions.
