Could methane be used as a fuel for our cars?

Question

I know that in some areas in the midwest, the methane that is given off from landfills is being used as energy to power the factories at the landfill. If we stored all the methane given off from our landfills, do you think we could use it as an efficent fuel? And if so, why do you think we aren't using it now?

Answer 1

Diesel cars can be easily modified to work on methane. Methane is also much cleaner fuel as it produces less CO2 than other carbohydrates.

Chris G: There are cars running on methane and they do wreck and they don't leave craters with no survivors.

Answer 2

A lot of things can be used to fuel cars, it just comes down to efficiency and how plausible is it. How do you think an 80mph wreck would look on a car running with methan? It would create a crater the size of a house, and no survivors.

So it really comes down to gasoline being the easiest to produce, cheapest, not as flamable as methane, more "bang" for your buck, etc.

Hybrids right now look like the standard way to go with fuel efficiency tho.

Answer 3

Yes. Natural gas is mostly methane and there are already cars on the road that can run on natural gas. Those could run on pure methane I would think. But a better use for the gas coming off old land fills is for electricity generation. My brother once worked at an electric generating station built on an old landfill. It used gas collected from a network of pipes in the upper layer of the old land fill to run a gas turbine to turn a generator. There are many such plants in the U.S.

Answer 4

Already being done, it's called compressed natural gas (CNG).  Landfill gas is about 50% methane and 50% carbon dioxide.  It will burn in this state but produces a very low level of energy.  The methane can be purified using fairly simple technology.

Answer 5

SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH OF IT TO DO ANY REAL GOOD , BESIDES IT STINKS , DO YOU WANT TO FOLLOW A CAR IN TOWN PUTTING OUT THAT FOWL OF AIR?

Answer 6

methane is natural gas. There are already cars and trucks and buses that run on natural gas. Look for the diamond shape symbol on the bumper and see that it says "natural gas powered". If you're in southern california, look!

Answer 7

Yes, I do think its possible for methaine conversion but, like anything else that might hurt the big oil companies you know that they will put a stop to it. Its all about money & greed. I have a friend that just bought a farm that has a natural gas well on it. He is hooked up on it to heat his house & cook with but, even though its on his property he cannot bottle & sell it!!! He found out that even though it is on his property that the gas company has the exclusive right to take his property over if he sells his own gas!!

Answer 8

yes it can and it has been

Answer 9

If methane can be used, I am about to become independently wealthy!!!  I seem to have an unlimited supply, and up to this point in my life, it hasn't made a dime for me!

;-)

Answer 10

It's used quite widely in New Zealand.

Most other countries have methane powered buses too.

Answer 11

It can, and I'm sure it has, but it's hard to use it as fuel for a car if you can only get it at a few places.  If you can't buy it on every street corner, you can't go very far with that car.  And manufacturers won't make cars that use it if there's no place to buy fuel.  It's a catch-22 situation.