Yellow Fever
February 23rd, 2009, 03:30 AM
Natural gas cars get another look
BC Local News
Published: February 22, 2009 11:00 AM
Updated: February 22, 2009 4:33 PM
Barry Penner's usual ride is a Ford Escape hybrid.
B.C.'s environment minister parked his politically correct SUV last week to try out another climate-friendly option, a Honda Civic powered by natural gas.
The car is one of two imported from the U.S. for demonstration purposes by Terasen Gas, factory-built to use the fuel most people associate with home heating and cooking. There's nothing new about natural gas cars, Penner says, but after a surge of interest in the 1980s they fell out of fashion thanks to high-efficiency gasoline vehicles and cheap gasoline.
Honda boasts that its natural gas Civic has the cleanest internal combustion engine in the world, with 50 to 80 per cent lower nitrogen and sulphur oxide emissions and 25 per cent less carbon dioxide than its gasoline version. The greenhouse gas edge is partly due to natural gas being relatively simple to process.
Penner is responsible for B.C.'s ambitious plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions, about 40 per cent of which come from vehicles. The government's recent throne speech highlighted the benefits of natural gas, which has surged in importance as new drilling technology has spurred a shale gas rush in the northeast of the province.
The B.C. government estimates that the Montney Basin near Dawson Creek and the Horn River Basin northeast of Fort Nelson have as much as 69 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas.
"That could yield over $37 billion in provincial royalty revenue, enough to fund the Ministry of Environment for over 130 years," the throne speech said, adding that the Bowser and Nechako Basin in the Central Interior and offshore gas also have "significant long-term potential."
With drilling companies flocking to B.C.'s northeast, proponents of a liquefied natural gas port near Kitimat recently amended their permit application to give it the option of making it an export rather than an import facility.
Penner says there are two main drawbacks to the natural gas car: the bigger fuel tank takes away from trunk space, and filling stations are few and far between. He says the biggest short-term growth potential is in commercial truck fleets with their own fueling facilities.
A Chilliwack-based company, IMW Industries Ltd., has found a successful niche making compressors and natural gas fueling stations. Its customers are mostly in the export market, from California to Thailand, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Car companies are currently focused on hybrid and electric solutions, but natural gas conversion is still an option. According to the Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance, there are shops in Delta, Langley, Maple Ridge, Prince George, Terrace, Victoria and Vancouver that do conversions.
For a list, see www.cngva.org/documents/BC_ANGVM_Dealers.pdf
BC Local News
Published: February 22, 2009 11:00 AM
Updated: February 22, 2009 4:33 PM
Barry Penner's usual ride is a Ford Escape hybrid.
B.C.'s environment minister parked his politically correct SUV last week to try out another climate-friendly option, a Honda Civic powered by natural gas.
The car is one of two imported from the U.S. for demonstration purposes by Terasen Gas, factory-built to use the fuel most people associate with home heating and cooking. There's nothing new about natural gas cars, Penner says, but after a surge of interest in the 1980s they fell out of fashion thanks to high-efficiency gasoline vehicles and cheap gasoline.
Honda boasts that its natural gas Civic has the cleanest internal combustion engine in the world, with 50 to 80 per cent lower nitrogen and sulphur oxide emissions and 25 per cent less carbon dioxide than its gasoline version. The greenhouse gas edge is partly due to natural gas being relatively simple to process.
Penner is responsible for B.C.'s ambitious plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions, about 40 per cent of which come from vehicles. The government's recent throne speech highlighted the benefits of natural gas, which has surged in importance as new drilling technology has spurred a shale gas rush in the northeast of the province.
The B.C. government estimates that the Montney Basin near Dawson Creek and the Horn River Basin northeast of Fort Nelson have as much as 69 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas.
"That could yield over $37 billion in provincial royalty revenue, enough to fund the Ministry of Environment for over 130 years," the throne speech said, adding that the Bowser and Nechako Basin in the Central Interior and offshore gas also have "significant long-term potential."
With drilling companies flocking to B.C.'s northeast, proponents of a liquefied natural gas port near Kitimat recently amended their permit application to give it the option of making it an export rather than an import facility.
Penner says there are two main drawbacks to the natural gas car: the bigger fuel tank takes away from trunk space, and filling stations are few and far between. He says the biggest short-term growth potential is in commercial truck fleets with their own fueling facilities.
A Chilliwack-based company, IMW Industries Ltd., has found a successful niche making compressors and natural gas fueling stations. Its customers are mostly in the export market, from California to Thailand, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Car companies are currently focused on hybrid and electric solutions, but natural gas conversion is still an option. According to the Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance, there are shops in Delta, Langley, Maple Ridge, Prince George, Terrace, Victoria and Vancouver that do conversions.
For a list, see www.cngva.org/documents/BC_ANGVM_Dealers.pdf