Transportation & Energy

Natural gas vehicles are making inroads in the urban transportation systems of America. Natural gas can make a significant contribution toward improved air quality in the field of transportation. Gasoline-powered vehicles contribute about three-fourths of the carbon monoxide pollution found in urban areas. They also produce most of the hydrocarbons and a significant amount of nitrogen oxides, as well. Advanced natural gas-fueled vehicles have the potential to reduce carbon monoxide by as much as 90 percent and hydrocarbon emissions by as much as 85 percent, compared with gasoline vehicles. About 40,000 natural gas vehicles, mostly in fleets, are operating on U.S. roads, and more than 500,000 are in operation around the world.

One of the most exciting and environmentally sound advances in natural gas technology has been in fuel cell technology. These cells were first used by NASA in the 1960's for power generation in space capsules. The high price of fuel cell technology has limited the growth of their implementation, but now cells are being used to generate power in hospitals, and soon vehicles may employ this technology. Fuel cells rely on the chemical interaction of natural gas and certain other metals, such as platinum, gold, and other electrolytes to produce electricity. The only byproduct of fuel cells' operation is water, which is pure enough to drink.

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