Is it possible to use the natural gas piped into our homes as a fuel source for vehicles?

Question

I know this is also a non-renewable resource but we have quite a lot of it. It burns clean. Fleet vehicles already use it. It seems little infrastructure would be necessary. What do you think?

Answer 1

Yes. Argentina is doing it now.

Answer 2

Yes, in fact this is how the Honda Civic natural gas vehicle is refueled.  Owners of this vehicle have to lease additional equipment to hook up to their home natural gas line for refueling.

However, there are many downsides to this.  For example

1) These vehicles can only be refueled at home

2) They're no more environmentally friendly than the Honda Civic hybrid or Prius (burning natural gas still produces greenhouse gas emissions)

3) They cost slightly more than these hybrids, and have the additional equipment lease cost on top

I don't think you could convert a regular car to run on natural gas.  At least not without completely gutting it.  Internal combustion engines are designed to run on petroleum.

Answer 3

yes, we have been doing it for years

Answer 4

yes it is possible to do that.  BTW, natural gas burns cleanER than other oil based fuel (critical greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas are 23% lower than diesel and 30% lower than gasoline), but it is not "Clean."