Electric cars and hybrids get all the media coverage.

Lots of people have taken the hybrid plunge, acquiring a Prius, Ford Escape or a number of other models that couple battery power with a small gas engine to maximize gas mileage. And electric vehicles have captured the imagination of a nation interested in cleaner air regardless of the reality that their permanence in the customer pantheon remains to be seen.

But what is the prospective of a all-natural gas-powered car or truck? America would look to answer with a collective yawn.

There is an alternative

Does it matter that this country likely has enough natural gas to fill each single commuter’s tank for decades? Canada Natural Gas need to. The U.S. Energy Info Administration lists some 35.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in Alaska’s North Slope. And analysts at the Prospective Gas Committee say that when they combine their findings with that of the EIA, they think U.S. organic gas reserves to be a future provide of 2,174 trillion cubic feet.

That is an estimated 100-year supply.

And why ought to we care? There are a number of causes. President Ronald Reagan put it this way: “Power independence is the ideal preparation America can make for the future.”

A further is air high quality.

Cutting emissions

Exhaust emissions from CNG vehicles are cleaner than their gasoline- or diesel-burning compatriots.

All-natural Gas Cars for America says the only production all-natural gas-powered passenger auto, the Honda Civic CNG, produces 95 percent fewer emissions of non-methane hydrocarbons, and 75 percent much less emissions of nitrogen oxides than its gasoline counterpart. The EPA rates it as the cleanest internal-combustion car or truck on the market place.

Consider this contrast: Stand behind a city bus that blows by burning diesel. The fumes can be noxious. CNG or LNG buses on the other hand have none of the soot and are substantially less likely to cause riders to hold their breath until they turn blue.

Locating chance

Businesses are starting to see opportunity, specifically considering the fact that the EIA says the fuel, on typical, expenses 42 % significantly less than diesel fuel on an power equivalent basis and is anticipated to cost 50 % less by 2035.

A Belmont, Mass.-based corporation has created a duel fuel technique for heavy-duty diesel trucks that enables them burn up to 80 % natural gas.

“For the reason that heavy trucks use so much diesel and there is such a dramatic cost differential between diesel and natural gas, the systems will pay for themselves in only about 12 months of common use,” says Doug Thomson, a enterprise vice president, in an email.

Thomson says the main hurdle is that his company has to certify the emissions for every household of engines. He says the company is operating its way by way of the process with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board. He says the emissions are “unquestionably much better… but for now we are focused on just displaying off the operating expense savings.”