TommyDeVito

I looked into getting a GX before I bought my Si. I researched the Phill as well. The suburb close to me (1 over) has CNG pumps as their city vehicles run on them. I spent some considerable time researching all of this. I'd have to purchase a GX in California and put it on a trailer to Texas. The closest Phill installer was in OK, so I'd have to pay to have him drive down here. The problem, I found, is maintenance. If part of the CNG system needs work, my local dealer wouldn't work on the car so if something needs work you have to ship it to one of those dealers in NY or CA? It seemed like too much hassle so I dropped the idea

Slithr

It would take an unbelievable amount of land to replace any significant part of our current energy needs with wind power. And as noted, you have to build spinning reserves behind them and that cost, I would guess, is not counted in your cost/benefit analysis. So in effect, you are paying for the same generation capacity twice.

Wind farms are also very expensive to hook to the grid because you have to run power transmission lines all over a large area, where a power plant's output is in one location.

aklucsarits

I would consider a CNG car if they were available here. There is a CNG fueling station open to the public 3 miles from my home. It currently costs about 40% less than gasoline per mile. But if everyone had CNG cars all of a sudden, then that cost savings would disappear very rapidly...

Andrew

cdelena

Has been available for awhile. Here is one...

http://www.edmunds.com/new/2009/honda/civi...rchlanding.html

brockLT1

t boone is looking to make dolla dolla billz under the umbrella of being "green."

energy88

Right now, the trouble with CNG is the limited vehicle cruising range and the lack of public fueling stations.

As an earlier poster pointed out, the local gas utilities may be hard pressed to find spare capacity in their systems to accommodate the incremental demand for home fueling units, which would be nice.

And finally, if CNG would somehow catch on, expect state and local governments to tax it it, thereby wiping out the cost advantage over gasoline.

Malloric

The range is okay, but coupled with the limited fuel stations it's a killer. In Sacramento area there were a couple fueling stations that weren't too far out of my normal routine. With the 170 mile range it would have been extremely annoying, but doable for day-to-day. But if I ever wanted to go on a long trip it would have been out. You can get the home refueling stations, but they run at around 3-4 grand and you still can't go for long trips.

What they need is more fueling stations. And yes, it should be taxed. Unless they tax it at $2/gallon, which is unlikely given how small the gasoline tax is, it'd still be cheaper than oil not to mention much cleaner.

negcamber

Where energy is concerned, the more options the better. When you have competition with several alternative choices, consumers win.

I'm sure many consumers would choose CNG cars with the right infrastructure available, especially for DD commuters (possibly even plug-in hybrids...Chevy Volt using CNG for its internal combustion engine perhaps).

As demand is destroyed by those no longer using gasoline, the price of gasoline will fall...or at least production will fall allowing the use of that finite resource to last longer while better alternatives are developed.

But as pointed out...infrastructure would be needed. I personally would rather government spend my tax money on domestic infrastructure (or provide tax incentives to stimulate private infrastructure development)...especially over some other very expensive international endeavors of the recent past.

As far as wind power...got to start some where. 100yrs ago the Wright Bros. had a pretty inefficient contraption that they catapulted into the air. And it needed lots of new infrastructure to make it practical. 66yrs later, the first contraption took to the air able to move 100 people across the Atlantic in 3.5hrs...and in the same year a couple guys walked on the moon.

I would hope that eventually, more use of individual power production will be allowed. Smaller wind generators, coupled with solar panels, at homes where favorable environmental conditions exist potentially would have an impact on fossil fuel consumption. Of course there are some changes that would need to happen with HOAs to make that a reality.

Penforhire

Heh, I like the CNG Volt idea.

I'm wondering how GM plans to get around gas going bad in the tank if not used for months. Say all you do is commute in your volt and your plug-in power covers it 100%. Won't the gasoline in the car go bad unless you add stabilizer? I'm thinking they might used a "forced" duty cycle, where the engine runs 10% of the time whether you need it or not.

Anyone know?

aklucsarits

Honda does not sell those to the public in PA. I'm not sure they are available at dealers in any state other than CA and maybe NY.

Andrew