The Cleanest Cars on Earth?: Honda Civic GX and Other Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs)
Clean Burning Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) are hot commodities in some parts of the country, where fuel can sell for as low as $0.63 per gallon.
Unlike the world’s most fuel efficient car (VW’s 285 MPG bullet), the Honda Civic GX looks like a standard passenger vehicle. What makes it special is what you don’t see: tailpipe emissions that are often cleaner than ambient air.
The Civic GX is powered by compressed natural gas—methane—the simplest and cleanest-burning hydrocarbon available. With an economical 113-hp, 1.8-Liter engine, the EPA has called the Civic the “world’s cleanest internal-combustion vehicle” with 90% cleaner emissions than the average gasoline-powered car on the road in 2004.
And get this: in Utah, natural gas can be purchased for $0.63 per gallon.
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At $24,590, buying a new Civic GX won’t exactly break your bank account, especially since up to $7,000 will come back to you in the form of state and federal tax credits. But don’t expect to find one easily. The car is only sold in two states, New York and California, and Honda can’t build them fast enough. One dealership said they have over 80 people waiting to buy.
If we really want our planet to have clean air, lets be real. Electric cars are the answer for the general public. I still have are hard time dealing with the fact that took away the EVA cars. I think thats what they were called.The documentary I saw about it SHOCKED me. All those cars being crushed because the oil and auto industries couldn’t deal with the lost of revenue. I wish the policy makers would answer to the people of this country as well as the industry that did this. thank you….
With natural gas reserve, you forgot a trillion cubic feet. http://www.naturalgas.org/overview/resources.asp
And this number might not even reflect the natural gas trapped in all the shale formations.
I would recommend that everyone desiring to create a business of converting a vehicle to another form of fuel supply consider, The Electric Vehicle Free Conversion Foundation (EVFCF). There are issues which should be the commanding solution for Banks, Loan Associations, and consumer’s, mainly resulting from how vehicles have been handled in payment processing. The Electric Vehicle Free Conversion Foundation (EVFCF) at http://jonalist.bravehost.com/Jonalist.html is a unique project which would endorse every such operation in all states and be a free conversion. You really must read more about this project to fully understand how a warranty protects the consumer as well as the public from abuse of conversion as there are possible problems which result in people taking a unfair advantage of others from a converted vehicle such that they would establish a business of renting their vehicle to others at a profit. The Electric Vehicle Free Conversion Foundation (EVFCF) would find them out and such warranty would be ended, their Grant which allowed the conversion would be invalid and state law enforcement could apprehend them and the vehicle confiscated immediately because without supporting the Grant Process a consumer is violating others rights whom are and the illegality issue they began by renting the vehicle in a business would be against the rules set forth in the Grant, loss of the Grant and the warranty makes the vehicle a threat to others whom are driving their vehicle with or without conversion so a lawsuit is not actually something The Electric Vehicle Free Conversion Foundation (EVFCF) is willing to undertake to resolve issues created by those whom take advantage of others. Really it is a open shut case against those individuals and a warning is not a fair way to show others they are being protected, the state then has the advantage to cease the individuals drivers license and all insurance companies can refuse to sell that individual a insurance policy coverage from that day further which is saying a mouthful to those whom take advantage of others to not do that to their driving record. By all logical means this is the ultimate punishment a individual should experience, it is about as bad as driving off from a gas station without paying or stealing gasoline, where in some states a first offense is a fine of $500 and a second offense is also a fine of $500 plus forfeiture of their drivers license and their vehicle is towed in and ceased which results in a impoundments fee, and insurance coverage to get it back.
Ethanol creation via corn a eatable crop is more likely to end once Genetics starts entering the fuel processing methods to consider, some of these genetic options are already heading to Brazil to begin processing and growth. Economical Flower Greenhouses are far more appealing than Pig Dung Processing Plants to produce Bio-Diesel and Flowers producing Ethanol would be sweeter. General Electric made a good consideration to create a Hydrogen Generator for running off the Power Grid. I figure that Genetically Altered Flowers being made capable to grow cellulose containing sugar would be the objective to have a high yield of Ethanol from bio-digester processes. We would need a super large building to accomplish this and we would have to end any Flower Sales based on keeping strict control of the Flower because of its Genetic Altercation. Ethanol would then become a produced fuel from Flowers and we could bring a limitation of its production through corn plus bring into the mix other sources for the bio-digestion to convert and this would conserve on having separate facilities for converting the plant materials to Ethanol. Therefore one or more conversion facilities could be created in each state.
Alabama Gas has yet to announce their support for CGN and it could be that their controller Energen Corporation has more say in what Alabama Gas can do than Alabama Gas so the limited support given to this is because of this situation. It is a concern that consumer’s with a CNG Vehicle can own a Refill Station for their home, it is another concern that a thief can access their home and steal it or the Natural Gas and continue on their journey, but hereto the issue is that of making these units as a rental for a homeowner through their Gas Company so its use will be added to their billing statement each month. This can cause a issue to homeowners whom work for a employer that has a policy to give them fuel cost they incur during their employ. A home Refill station does no show whom is using the unit and how much is being used so the actual amount is skeptical in so much that a mans wife could also own a CNG Vehicle and use it as well as he whom is covered by his company policy. The final situation is that many homes do not have a connection that is without the need of installing requiring the Natural Gas Company to come out to the home to cut-off the Natural Gas Supply so a installer could install a connection for a Home Refill Station for a consumer. If a consumer needs this they should also consider whether or not they should have another connection for their barbecue grill and do that connection as well.
Consumer’s have something else to be thankful for besides CNG Vehicles, a company now in China makes a CNG Bicycle and another company makes CNG lawnmowers, other companies make CNG motorcycles. It will not be long in waiting that companies will consider making CNG powered motor boats and two person water transport vehicles. This growing marketing field is bringing more job responsibilities to all Natural Gas Suppliers and people seeking jobs should always check that option for their livelihood. Their is another company whom is making the process of adding CNG and Hydrogen to their vehicle by changing a module which has the fuel in it instead and it also has a separate home refill option - . This is entirely new Product Architecture, Gas to Solid-State, is now offered by Limnia, Inc. more info here: http://www.limnia.com/
The most widely talked about method of storing hydrogen is in pressurized tanks, where the gas is typically under pressure from 10,000 to 30,000 psi. Hydrogen pressurized in cylinders has limited storage capacity because of its low density. For electric vehicles, most tank-based systems average 100 to150 miles on one tank. Tank-based storage systems have other disadvantages too. “They’re problematic up and down. The tanks are so big, they take up a lot of space, and the re-fueling process can be dangerous because of the high pressure coming out of the pump,” said Redmond. What’s more, the limited storage capacity of the vehicles makes frequent re-fueling necessary, which means a lot of stations need to be built to keep this type of car running over a long distance. Limnia claims, “With our solid-state cassettes, you can drive 2,500 miles across America without ever turning off your engine. You can just hot-swap cassette modules,” said Redmond. Three cassettes in an electric car can take you 300 miles. “Fifteen companies have designed electric cars that can take you 600 miles on the same three cassettes,” said Redmond. The company’s cassettes, which also power homes, buildings, communities, data centers, and more, integrate board, box, safety, mounting, signal path, power path, shielding, I/O, sequencing, and support rail into a complete chassis system. Unlike conventional systems, Limnia uses a small pack of batteries as a supplement - the Battery Multiplex Array (BMA) massive Commodity-class battery pack. “The batteries are not direct to the motor. They are in between. The fuel cell is constantly recharging them, so we can get away with fewer batteries,” said Scott Redmond, Vice President of Product Architecture, Limnia, Inc.. Limnia’s system uses existing infrastructure to replace the cassettes, with drop-off and pick-up locations at UPS, FedEx, and Kinko’s. You can also have new fuel cassettes shipped to you through one of these carriers or US Mail, or simply re-fuel the cassettes in your home. A home pack, which comes with the system, re-charges the cassettes using two methods. The first is hydrolysis, which cracks the hydrogen. “If you electrocute water in a certain way with a certain type of salt, hydrogen bubbles out of the water. Limnia’s home pack uses the GE Noryl electrolyzer, which makes hydrogen cheaper than any other method out there - even gasoline,” said Redmond. The other way to produce hydrogen is via a microbial reactor. This consists of specially engineered bugs that eat waste to release hydrogen gas. Both sources of hydrogen are readily available. The home pack uses kitchen waste, as well as water to produce the hydrogen. Storage racks in the base of the unit hold charged cassettes for future use.
What’s more, hydrogen powered appliances are now available in both the consumer and industrial markets, driven by improvements in the automotive industry. In cold weather environments, fuel cells can replace heating systems. According to Redmond, “There is a type of fuel cell for homes that runs hotter than it needs to run. Heat is piped off the fuel cell with water tubes that extend underneath the floor. With this type of system, there is no reason you need to be hooked up to a grid.” Initial cost of investment is high; however, Redmond said that over time, it pays for itself.
“We’ve had a lot of data centers call us for battery-backup because the hydrogen fuel cells have a longer run time, no EMF, and no vibration,” said Redmond. Big buildings are also installing fuel cell systems. “In Silicone Valley a lot of the big Internet companies are having to move out because they cannot pull enough electricity to the building, but they can pull water and natural gas to the building, which you can crack to run the fuel cell,” he added.
Many fuel cell systems are available for large factories and large industrial systems. They suit certain industries because they produce no vibration, no toxic fumes, and no outgassing. They also have a cleaner electrical signal, less failures, and almost no maintenance.
Iam all for it.Why is that these cars are not being made by GMC, Ford and Chrysler?
I like this car make more lol or the post make more of the posts. anyway keep telling people the more they know the more they want it
Back in the 70s we told people it’s going to run out. Natural gas as a transition is ok. Solar would be even better so that we can get around with zero emissions, don’t need a gas station, sun shines most every day, everywhere, with a battery backup. Why is this not happening? Big business would take a blow. Come on people, jump on the bandwagon and tell your candidate you want it now. The technology is there and if you want it, it will come but we have to scream for it.
What is the costs and procedure to transform my current vehicles to natural gas
I want to know when more automakers will make NGV’s for the US commuters. With Adsorbed Natural Gas tanks (filled with activated charcoal or corn cobs) the pressure can be reduced significantly and the tanks can be custom shaped to fit different cars better, all the while increasing the cars range as well. And yes it’s spelled correctly - Adsorbed,
http://www.energtek.com/market/natural_gas_vehicles
Clayton. How about giving us a comparison between propane (LPG) and natural gas (CNG) as an alternative fuel. LPG requires a much lower storage pressure so the tank isn’t so bulky…etc. In the late 70’s LPG conversions were popular where cars and trucks could run on either gasolene or propane by the flip of a switch. An observation is that LPG fueling stations are easy to find whereas CNG is rare. How about a well researched article giving us the pro’s and con’s of LPG vs CNG? Thank you.
My sister lives in Georgia and says the price of natural gas has tripled in the past 5 years. Are we just trading one foreign type of price gouging for a domestic one? Its hard to see natural gas as any more than a transitional fuel for the next ten years or so, until the fuel cell technology catches up. T Boone Pickens has a plan based on natural gas in cars replacing gasoline and saving 30% of our fossil-fuel requirements. HUGE wind power farms would allow the natural gas we now use for industry to be shifted to our vehicles. While I agree it would be domestic power, and that is a good thing generally, I strongly object to be gouged by domestic natural gas producers too.