Will the United States ever embrace natural gas?

1. 82

   Max Daltonposted 12 years ago

   Will the United States ever embrace natural gas?
   
   It seems like a cost efficient way to resolve our problem with reliance on foreign oil, but it still hasn't caught on. Why isn't natural gas catching on in the U.S.?

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2. 81

   Wayne Brownposted 12 years ago

   I think you might be judging too quickly. For example, the trucking industry is beginning to look to natural gas as an alternative to diesel fuel due to costs and the escalations of recent past. City buses have been operating on natural gas for years.  Stricter clean air laws in California is causing conversion to natural gas on many local trucking units especially in the LA area.  I believe that the LA Times is totally converted on their delivery trucks.  The conversion is now being offered at the original equipment level so it is much easier to roll the cost and the depreciation into the the price of th new vehicle.  Once there is ample proof that these tractors can deliver their load over any type of road, I think you will see a wholesale movement in that direction over the next five years. We have anb abundance of this resource and there is absolutely no reason not to take advantage of it.  Look for the the big gasoline players like Exxon to start getting into the act and investing in that end of the business. WB

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3. 0

   Larry Wallposted 12 years ago

   Natural gas is used in many places to produce electricity. It is use in the manufacturing of ammonia fertilizers and it is used in many manufacturing processes as a source of heat energy.
   
   I agree that we need to make better use of natural gas. Natural gas, as liquified natural gas and compressed natural gas has been used in some vehicles with success, but it has to be fleet vehicles at the time, because of the missing infrastructure.
   
   We have an abundance of natural gas and more to be developed, gas hydrates deep in the ocean offer an almost unlimited supply of natural gas. Unfortunately the technology to recover this frozen gas has not been adequately developed.
   
   Natural gas would be an excellent vehicle fuel. However, it is going to meet resistance from some because it is a fossil fuel. You will still have to drill wells, need pipelines and new storage facilities. However, those are issues that can be resolved if the country can ever come together on a consensus on what our next vehicle fuel source will be.

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4. 59

   madmachioposted 12 years ago

   I think it's going to need to.. Why not use our resorces better!?

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