Is Natural Gas all that bad?

Drane Intermediate Corsicana Independent School District

What is Compressed Natural Gas? Compressed natural gas (CNG) is made of

natural gas under high pressure mainly made of methane and 5% other gases and small water vapors. When pressed it is usually stored in large cylinder hard containers. Compressed Natural Gas is safer than any other fuels because natural gas is less dense than air so it will naturally disperse. It is an alternative for gasoline and envirmently cleaner as well.

Why you should switch to Compressed natural gas?First of all, the reason why most people switched is because of the economy and gas prices. Gas prices right now are between $2-4.00/gal. Compressed natural gas is below $1.00 per gallon! Can you believe that? Meanwhile, Gasoline hasn't been below $1.00 since the 1990s.

•Second reason is it will help the environment. Most people don't think what they do to the environment is going to affect them. Well, that is partly true, I hate to admit. But what about other generations? Ever thought about your sons, daughters, granddaughters, grandsons? Don't you think they want to live life like you?

You should not only think about this generation but the next, and the next, and the next. So we should start now for a better future.

 

What is the local problem? There are a lot of local problems that might get you thinking about switching and some also world wide.

For example…

Gulf oil spillOn Tuesday, April 20th, disaster struck when BP’s

deep water horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.

With 11 to 15 workers missing it was a total chaos.

There were 2 leaks and we were loosing, estimated 1.000 barrels a day to the sea.

Finally, the oil stopped leaking on July 25th and it officially ended on September 19th when BP pumped cement down the well, 6 months after the explosion.

As you can see the Gulf Oil Spill was a huge problem and now because of a manmade disaster innocent animals have died because of it. And we also have lost gallons of oil.

High Gas Prices Gas Prices currently are very high. It is

between $2.00-$4.00 A gallon!! Compressed Natural Gas is below $1.00!!Now with the economy, everyone needs to be

saving money.

Gasoline Related Explosions There are a lot of gasoline related explosions a

day. Some could be minor, be some could be MAJOR!

You could only get out of the explosion with just a few scratches, or not even get out alive.

That is because Gasoline has a low ignition point of about 465°F. Meanwhile Compressed Natural Gas has the ignition point of 1,200°F.

So not only will it help the environment it will also keep you and your family safe.

Pros Cons The price of CNG fuel is

below $1.00/gal CNG has the high ignition of

1,200°F Natural gas is non toxic and

non corrosive(non harmful), so it will not harm our water supply if exposed

CNG is safer and cleaner than gasoline and reduces the carbon monoxide emissions by 90-97%

The burning of CNG fuel causes low emissions so it will cause less air pollution

CNG is a type of fuel found all over the world

We do not use natural gas as much as gasoline so there is still a large amount of natural gas left in the world

When using a CNG vehicle you will need to give up a large amount of space for the CNG tanks

CNG is not as powerful as gasoline so it will have a slow horsepower

There are only a limited amount of CNG re-fueling stations in the United States

If you want to buy a home re-fueling station its going to cost you $1,000

Overall, I think you should switch to CNG. Switch not just because of current issues or problems but also switch for the future.

If you switched you could prevent future problems relating to gasoline as well.

Bibliography Us department of Energy [online] http://www.energy.gov/energyresourses/fossilfuels Compressed Natural Gas [online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/compressed_natural_gas Compressed Natural Gas [online] http://www.cngnow.com/en-us Compressed natural gas as a transportation fuel [online] http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/transportation/afus/eng.html The pros and cons of CNG conversion [online] http://www.cngunited.com/news/the-pros-and-cons-of-cng-

conversion“Compressed natural gas - natural gas under high pressure”

[online]http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/transportation/CNG.html“BP Gulf oil spill Cheat sheet” [online]

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/bp-gulf-oil-spill-timeline.php#