To me, that seems cost competitive with gasoline!

That means WITHOUT taxes or compression to 3000 PSI, NG costs about 25% more than gasoline. With taxes and the energy needed to compress it, you are looking at $4 per gallon equivalent.

Yes, I did a little homework. On the REAL COSTS of compressing natural gas…CPS charges between 10 and 13 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity, the energy source most commonly used to run a compressor. To charge 80 standard cubic feet of natural gas from the home meter to 3000 PSI, it would take over 19 kW-h of electricity. That 80 standard cubit feet has the energy equivalent of 2.5 gallons of gasoline. So figure on a break even point of a dollar per gallon equivalent.

Since natural gas is priced by the therm, or millon BTUs and gasoline contains 125,000 BTUs per gallon, the math isn’t too hard for an AMS certified meterologist. 8 gallons of gas per therm of gasoline. With the current price at $2 per gallon, that is $16 per therm. But remember, it takes $1 per gallon equivalent to make than natural gas CNG. Bam. Wholsale price for natural gas is what? About $8 per therm.

Net savings? Zero. And then you have the inferior, replacement goods issues like premium for conversion, home filling equipment, shorter range, lack of commercial filling stations, price fluctuations…

Someone didn’t think this out too well, did they?

Consulting Texas A&M University, Acer grandidentatum is commonly known as Bigtooth Maple, Sabinal Maple, Western Sugar Maple, Uvalde Bigtooth Maple, Canyon Maple, Southwestern Bigtooth Maple. But not Sawtooth Maple.

Back to the subject at hand. The instant natural gas is diverted from established consumers to alternate uses, supply becomes tight. Meaning that savings per BTU drops.

Taxes. There are currently no motor vehicle fuels taxes in the pricing. That is $0.384 per gallon here in Texas. And remember propane? It was a natural back during our last shortage but it only made sense as long as there were no motor vehicle fuels tax. And that is why NISD used it in their Bluebird school buses. They continued the tax-exempt status.

Don’t think motor vehicle fuels tax is an issue? For commercial vehicles, it is a $10,000
FINE using tax free fuels (dyed red #2 diesel is available for refrigeration, construction equipment and back-up generators).

Yes, you are correct about methane being CH4. And natural gas is mostly methane. But the C-H ratio for trimethylpentane (iso-octane, the gold standard with 100 octane rating) is 8/18 compared to the 1/4 for methane. And the total energy from a HC fuel is a combination of the oxidation of BOTH the hydrogen and carbon. Gasoline has three times the volumetric energy density. THREE TIMES. Per mass, natural gas has a 15% advantage. Insignificant since you have to store it in HEAVY TANKS, making efficiency gains nil.

Compressed gases suffer in portability GREATLY. The energy used in compression is very great, further eroding the hypothetical savings. This also handicaps hydrogen which is why the only viable hydrogen systems utilize hydrides as in Bob Lazar’s project. Unfortunately, methane is too large to be stored in this manner. It does form clathrates with water, making a heavy ice which contains about 600 volumes of methane. But Pickens and McClendon (CEO of Cheasapeake Energy, the largest natural gas E&P company).

And finally, retiring our natural gas fired peak load power plants would lead to inevitable shortages unless there is a 4 fold oversupply in wind energy AND a means of interstate delivery. And the resistance to construction of such delivery systems is very high. Even CPS has problems with the northwest HV distribution lines. Location kills wind. Ever drive from Lubbock to Houston in one day?

Stick to weather. Native plants of Texas and power are definitely not your forte.

Natural gas is a domestic energy source. We tap it from our own territory. It’s ours to tap. It’s ours to control. It’s ours for the taking. It’s ours to create our own jobs. Right here in the good old U.S.A. It’s our own resource that is not controlled by foreign interests. It’s ours. We control it!

Natural gas is also a relatively clean fossil fuel. It only contains one (1) carbon atom per molecule versus 7-10 carbon atoms per molecule for gasoline. Natural gas is CH4. That is four times more hydrogen atoms than carbon and many think that is important. Burning it releases water vapor (H20)=more clean rain, vs. Carbon Dioxide=more Global Warning, er Global Warming.

It contains more energy per dollar than gasoline. You admit that. Let’s see. I will take more energy per dollar every day at Wal Mart buying natural gas. And it’s cleaner! And it’s our jobs? That’s not terrific?

You can’t pour it? So? Attach your pressurized hose into a cylinder. Get over it already.

Your wind energy argument is a total disconnect. Cost per Kilowatt hour is competitive with anything out there including dirty coal. Go back and refigure.

There IS technology to convert natural gas into conventional fuels. Called “gas to liquids” and it is old technology. Conversion rates based on energy content are no different than using CNG in modified vehicles. Why not? Because it would have to compete with CONVENTIONAL fuels. Without a captive market via government regulation, natural gas cannot compete.

Pickens only wishes to stack the deck in his favor. Get a rope.

Most natural gas is sold wholesale. Your local utility uses this to advantage as they can store considerable volumes in their distribution systems keeping the price constant. The big variable with supply is electric generation which is biased to the summer months. During the summer, peak electric generation places demands on natural gas as aero-derivative NG fired turbine engines consume large quantities of gas. Can wind turbines compete in this market? Unlikely. Neither can nuclear. The key to peak generation is the command depenability.

Wind power only works with a massive reinvestment in transmission lines AND much more than 20% generated by wind. More like 50% What is needed is a high voltage DC interconnects. What this does is isolate the frequency issue in long-haul transmission. At the terminal end, this DC is then inverted to AC, matching the local gird frequency.

The cost? About $0.50 per kW-H. 4-5 times the current national average.