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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Gas ... natural, that is
As Utahns look around for options to $3.25 per gallon gasoline -- and $4-plus per gallon diesel fuel -- the most obvious options are to carpool, take mass transit, or buy a more fuel-efficient/gasoline-electric hybrid car.
But there is another option: compressed natural gas, or CNG. We've all seen the many Questar Gas vehicles driving our streets and highways -- for years, that business has benefitted from the low-cost fuel. And as the price of gasoline continues to head north, with no significant relief in sight, that CNG price of about 73 cents per gallon is looking mighty attractive.
It's frustrating, then, that General Motors and Ford have ceased manufacturing models of their fleets that run on CNG -- for the U.S. market, at least. That hits Utah especially hard, since our state has 60 CNG fueling stations, the highest per capita for any state in the nation.
Emissions are low and so is the cost of fuel. Think about it: If you're spending $48.75 to fill a 15-gallon tank with regular unleaded gasoline, it would only cost $10.95 to fill a 15-gallon tank on a vehicle that runs on CNG. Let's say you fill up once every two weeks; you're annual savings would be $982.80 -- or, instead of spending $1,267.50 per year for gasoline, you'd only be spending $284.70 for CNG.
And, if you're like us, you're visiting the gasoline pump more often than once a week. So the savings would be even more significant.
But professional conversions from gasoline to CNG can run into the thousands of dollars. This can be offset to some extent by federal and state tax credits. And you can buy new cars originally manufactured to run on CNG -- a Honda Civic, for example, with a list price, according to the Honda Web site, of about $25,000; but again, federal and state tax credits apply, so the sticker shock can be lessened significantly.
The other great thing about CNG in Utah, though, is that since Questar Gas is supplying the fuel stations, it's doing so as part of its operations as a utility. That 73 cents per gallon is a lot cheaper than CNG in California -- as much as $2.50 per gallon.
Electric cars aren't here yet. (Well, they were, but General Motors inexplicably took them all back and destroyed them; see the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?" and feel your blood boil.) Hybrids are, but like CNG cars, they're expensive on the front end. CNG isn't the be-all, end-all solution to current sky-high gasoline prices. But for those looking for another alternative, they might make good sense.
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