Natural gas vehicle
Heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks and buses can also undergo conversion, utilizing spark ignition systems or hybrid electric motor configurations.
While advancements in compression and liquefaction mitigate energy density differences, trade-offs regarding storage container size, complexity, and weight continue to affect vehicle range.
Obstacles to widespread NGV adoption for private vehicles include concerns over additional weight, technological unfamiliarity, and limited refueling infrastructure in some regions.
Nevertheless, global NGV numbers reached nearly 28 million by 2019,[1] with significant market presence in countries such as China, Iran, India, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, and Italy.
CNG may be generated and used for bulk storage and pipeline transport of renewable energy and also be mixed with biomethane, itself derived from biogas from landfills or anaerobic digestion.
Lower operating costs and government incentives to reduce pollution from heavy vehicles in urban areas have driven the adoption of NGV for commercial and public uses, i.e. trucks and buses.
[2] Other challenges include relatively expensive and environmentally insensitive but convenience-seeking private individuals; good profits and taxes extractable from small-batch sales of value-added, branded petrol and diesel fuels via established trade channels and oil refiners; resistance and safety concerns to increasing gas inventories in urban areas; dual-use of utility distribution networks originally built for home gas supply and allocation of network expansion costs; reluctance, effort and costs associated with switching; prestige and nostalgia associated with petroleum vehicles; fear of redundancy and disruption.
[citation needed] Ford's approach is to offer a bi-fuel prep kit as a factory option and then have the customer choose an authorized partner to install the natural gas equipment.
Choosing GM's bi-fuel option sends the HD pickups with the 6.0L gasoline engine to IMPCO in Indiana to upfit the vehicle to run on CNG.
One thing they share is that due to engines made for gasoline, computer-controlled valves to control fuel mixtures are required for both of them, often being proprietary and specific to the manufacturer.
The fuel is volatile and flammable, and the fumes are heavier than air, which causes them to collect in a low spot in the event of a leak, making it far more hazardous to use.
With traditional gasoline and diesel engines, the energy density of the air-fuel mixture is limited because the liquid fuels do not mix well in the cylinder.
See slide 13 from their NGV BRUXELLES – INDUSTRY INNOVATION SESSION presentation[54] High horsepower engines in the oil drilling, mining, locomotive, and marine fields have been or are being developed.
Paul Blomerus has written a paper[55] concluding as much as 40 million tonnes per annum of LNG could be required to meet the global needs of the high-horsepower engines by 2025 to 2030.
[66] Natural gas traction is quite popular in Italy, due to the existence of a capillary distribution network for industrial use since the late 50s and a traditionally high retail price for petrol.
As of April 2012 there were about 1500 filling stations, spread on the entire country except for the island of Sardinia,[67] while the fleet reached 730,000 CNG vehicles at the end of 2010.
Normally, standard gasoline vehicles are retrofitted in specialized shops, which involve installing the gas cylinder in the trunk, the CNG injection system, and electronics.
[75] Since 2003 and with the commercial success of flex cars in Brazil, another existing option is to retrofit an ethanol flexible-fuel vehicle to add a natural gas tank and the corresponding injection system.
Some taxicabs in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, run on this option, allowing the user to choose among three fuels (E25, E100 and CNG) according to the current market prices at the pump.
[80] The growth of NGV market in Iran has in large part been due to Iranian government intervention to decrease the society's dependence on gasoline.
This governmental plan was implemented to reduce the effect of sanctions on Iran and make the nation's domestic market less dependent on imported gasoline.
[94][95] Thailand has for over a 15 years run autogas taxi cabs in Bangkok,[96] though autos and buses had erroneously labelled NGV stickers on them, when in fact, were LPG fuelled.
A significant effort was made when the state-controlled oil company PTT PCL built a network of natural gas refueling stations.
As the price of oil climbed rapidly, it was estimated more than 40,000 new cars and trucks powered by natural gas were purchased in six months in 2008, including many buses.
The practice of using CNG remained largely confined to taxicabs predominantly in the Klang Valley and Penang due to a lack of interest.
[100] As fuel subsidies were gradually removed in Malaysia starting June 5, 2008, the subsequent 41% price hike on petrol and diesel led to a 500% increase in the number of new CNG tanks installed.
[citation needed] CNG buses are operating in other major South Korean cities like Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju and Incheon.
In 2012, the team, led by Nicola Ventura, competed with a Fiat 500 Abarth,[111] modified to run on natural gas with a Cavagna/Bigas fuel conversion kit and thus renamed "500 EcoAbarth".
On October 14, 2012, at the end of the seventh Ecorally San Marino-Vatican, with three wins and second place (out of four races),[112] the Team also won the Italian CSAI Alternative Energy Pilots and Navigators titles.
On 28 October 2012, after having raced in seven European countries, collecting three wins, two second places and additional points, the team won the FIA Alternative Energies Drivers and Constructors world titles.
