USE OF NATURAL GAS BOOSTED AS FUEL FOR U.S. VEHICLES

Proponents of increased gas use among U.S. motorists last week began stepping up efforts to capture a bigger slice of transportation fuels markets.

Among the latest developments:

A prominent Texas independent producer urged Texas regulators to bar reformulated gasoline (RFG) from the state's list of approved clean fuels for fleet vehicles. Instead, Mesa Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Boone Pickens said members of the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (Tnrcc) should act decisively to assure that gas use increases among vehicle fleets in the state.
The U.S. Big Three automakers - Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Corp., and General Motors Corp.- formed a precompetitive research partnership to work on reducing the cost of compressed natural gas (CNG) storage tanks by 50% within 4 years, mainly by using new materials and manufacturing techniques. Secondary goals of the Natural Gas Vehicle Technologies Partnership (NGVT) include improving CNG storage tank reliability and durability, standardizing tank requirements, and helping set composition standards for gas that will reduce emissions while improving drivability and performance.

USE GAS, NOT RFG

Texas is among states leading the way in developing moving source clean air requirements and incentives to promote the use of gas.

One Texas law requires operators of public fleets with 15 or more vehicles in heavily polluted urban areas by 1998 to convert at least 30% of their vehicles to gas or one of four other qualified alternative fuels: propane, ethanol, methanol, or electricity.

Pickens aired his comments on the eve of a late June Tnrcc meeting in which commissioners were to consider two proposals he said "could have a major impact on the state's clean air initiative and our ongoing efforts to revitalize the oil and gas industry by creating a market for natural gas as a transportation fuel."

Tnrcc was asked to decide whether to add RFG to the list of approved alternative fuels and whether to require private fleets to meet the 1998 alternative fuel mandate for public fleets.

Regarding classifying RFG as an alterative fuel for fleet vehicles, Pickens said reformulating gasoline will reduce-not eliminate-the fuel's tailpipe and evaporative emissions.

"Reformulated gasoline is not as clean as natural gas and does not qualify as a clean fuel," Pickens said. "It is becoming increasingly clear that expanding the use of natural gas vehicles (NGVS) is the only sensible way many Texas cities can avoid harsh sanctions."

Opponents of requiring private fleets to meet public fleet alternative fuel mandates claim the proposal would lead to job losses and a big reduction of Texas refinery production.

But Pickens said only about 100,000 private fleet vehicles in Texas would be affected, displacing about 150 million gal/year of gasoline or highway diesel fuel, a volume equal to about 0.25% of the state's refining capacity.

ETHANOL STANCE

NGV proponents are supported by the ethanol industry in the campaign to capture a part of U.S. alternative transportation fuel markets for gas.

Ethanol industry officials say gas is the best alternative fuel, especially for fleet vehicles, to help clean up the air in polluted U.S. metropolitan areas. Ethanol producers have saluted gas as an alternative fuel that bums cleaner than ethanol.

But for vehicles still fueled by gasoline, the ethanol industry says RFG oxygenated by ethanol or ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) is the best way to remove carbon monoxide and other toxic emissions from the atmosphere.

Pickens said the objective of NGV proponents is to regain U.S. market share lost to imported crude oil and refined products.

"Any gains on the natural gas front won't come at the expense of Texas oil producers but out of the hide of foreign oil producers," he said.

NO SILVER BULLET

While many fuels are billed as the answer to U.S. air quality problems, Dick Geiss, chairman of the three member NGVT managing committee, said, "No single silver bullet fuel is best for every application."

Rather, all have advantages and problems.

Among advantages gas offers over conventional gasoline or RFG are better fuel efficiency from a higher octane rating and costs as much as 35% less. In addition, gas can reduce emissions of smog precursors by as much as 60%, compared with gasoline. The two main drawbacks of NGV vehicles: high cost and limited range.

Geiss said NGV costs are relatively high because makers of NGV system components use costly raw materials and low volume manufacturing techniques. Driving range is less because gas has about one-fourth the energy density of gasoline.

NGVT will try to solve those problems.

"We have to find ways to drive down the cost of tanks in order for NGVs to compete in the marketplace," Geiss said. "Tanks are cylinders and don't always fit our vehicle designs. We may want to investigate tank shapes that fit our vehicles better."

NGVT first will track an effort by Gas Research Institute (GRI), Chicago, to boost the safety of CNG storage tanks made of composite materials and to help improve tank installation, operation, and inspection procedures.

"As we progress, we hope to better coordinate research and technology resources of the auto and gas industries," Geiss said.

Stephen Ban, GRI president, said new NGVs and NGV conversions with electronic engine controls currently cost $3,000-5,000 more than gasoline powered versions of the same passenger car or light truck, with the storage cylinders accounting for nearly half of that price premium.

GRI plans to spend $15 million during the next 5 years to increase the safety of storage tanks made of composite materials and to improve tank installation, operation, and inspection.

There currently are about 30,000 NGVs on the road in the U.S. and 700 refueling stations. The 1992 Energy Policy Act requires greater NGV use in fleets.

Geiss speculated that NGVT's research might be useful to the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, a U.S. government-auto industry effort to triple the fuel efficiency of today's midsize U.S. autos.