Natural-gas vehicles hot in Utah, where the fuel is cheap

[lovuian]

http://news.findlaw.com/ap/f/1310//04-25-2008/20080425002005_12.html

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Troy Anderson was at the gas pump and couldn't have been happier, filling up at a rate of $5 per tank.

Anderson was paying 63.8 cents per gallon equivalent for compressed natural gas, making Utah a hot market for vehicles that run on the fuel.

It's the country's cheapest rate for compressed gas, according to the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, and far less than the $3.56 national average price for a gallon of gasoline.

"I'm totally celebrating," crowed Anderson, a 44-year-old social worker, who picked up a used Honda Civic GX two months ago. "This is the greatest thing. I can't believe more people aren't talking about it. This is practically free."

Personal ownership of natural gas-fueled vehicles in Utah soared from practically nothing a few years ago to an estimated 5,000 vehicles today, overwhelming a growing refueling network, where compressors sometimes can't maintain enough pressure to fill tanks completely for every customer.

"Nobody expected this kind of growth. We got caught by the demand," said Gordon Larsen, a supervisor at Utah utility Questar Gas.
more...
Why isn't are country making these natural gas stations more available considering the situation

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. That will work for a few more years...

as long as not too many of us get those cars.

Peak Natural Gas
running out faster than petroleum
http://www.oilempire.us/naturalgas.html

[dysfunctional press]

4. so many homes have nat gas heat/cooking/hot water that it's going to be a problem eventually...

we've been exploring our options, re:solar and geothermal- but it's just not cost effective for us yet. but hopefully as the price of gas goes up, the price will go down and efficiency up for the alternatives.

[TlalocW]

2. I have a CNG vehicle as well

It's a Ford Econoline (E250) Cargo Van. I needed some sort of van for my side business of magic and balloon twisting, mainly to carry large balloon sculptures, and I didn't want to fill up a gas guzzler 2 or 3 times a week, and I found a place that sells used ones. It gets the same mileage, and while it's not as cheap in Oklahoma as Utah (which I don't understand), it's currently sitting at 90 cents a gallon.

And sometimes it is free if the pump is malfunctioning. :)

The main CNG evangelist in town does a lot of business in the Middle East selling commercial and home pumps (you can have a home pump installed that draws gas out of your heating lines). Apparently, a lot of people in the oil business over there prefer to drive CNG vehicles so that they can sell more oil to us.

One of the suburbs' school buses run on CNG as do the buses that drive around Tulsa Community College. The only problems are: 1. if the gas pressure isn't high enough (if the pumps have been busy, and the compressor hasn't had enough time to get back where it started from), I can't fill up all the way, and 2. the first quarter tank goes pretty fast because unlike gasoline, the CNG is under pressure, and it wants to get out so I think in that first quarter tank, even if I'm driving 30 to 40 mph, it's still pushing out the same amount of gas as if I were driving 75.

But it's a pretty clean burning fuel, creates American jobs, and I get to drive around in a big ass van advertising my business on the cheap.

TlalocW

[NickB79]

3. Natural gas in North America is declining in production

The US passed peak extraction several years ago, and after that we came to rely on Canada to make up for our declining reserves.

Unfortunately, Canada's gas reserves are not limitless.

http://www.energybulletin.net/3361.html

"CALGARY (CP) - Canada's known natural gas reserves continue to decline even though a record number of wells were drilled in 2003, the energy industry announced Thursday.

In its annual estimate of energy reserves, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said natural gas reserves declined by 2.5 trillion cubic feet by the end of last year, to 56.6 trillion cubic feet. A major factor in the decline was a decision by Alberta's energy regulator to lower the gas estimates by 7.5 trillion cubic feet for thousands of small single-well pools that had little or no production."

and

http://www.energybulletin.net/24306.html

"CALGARY (Dow Jones)--A steep decline in Canadian natural gas drilling, coupled with increased gas consumption as more oilsands fields come onstream, could dramatically reduce the amount of gas Canada exports to the U.S. in 2007.

Analysts believe Canadian natural gas volumes available for export to the U.S. could drop by as much as 1 billion cubic feet a day, or about 11%, tightening available supply and likely ratcheting up futures prices."

So, between the declining output of the fields, and the increasing demand for tar sand production, the future for natural gas supplies in North America does not look promising.