OIL prices falling!!

[dave1949]

Dave, I love natural gas, but we need a lot more technology to be able to use it in diesels (trains, trucks, equipment). I also have some real concerns about running gas lines to all gas stations and certainly I'm skeptical of the general public's ability to safely refuel their cars with natural gas. The higher flammability and dangers of static discharge really concern me the most. The supply of gas in this area is huge, but so are the horror stories of gas line explosions due to careless digging and leaks. It's just far more dangerous than gasoline and diesel.

I guess the best thing going for it is we have some - maybe - probably :laughing:

I don't know who or what to believe on some of these oil&gas reserve estimates. I have a feeling speculators and people trying to raise venture drilling capital may 'color' the facts on occasion. The Marcellus gas reserves seem plausible at least, unlike the Bakken oil fields. People have been taking gas from very low-tech wells in that area for decades, it must be there.

I agree with you on the danger. The aging gas pipeline infrastructure has been blowing up here and there on a regular basis.
Dave.

 

[keegs]

I don't know how dangerous it is to fill a vehicle's compressed natural gas fuel tank...not saying it isn't though. But I seem to recall Honda Civics being sold with a home CNG refueling device. Six hour refueling seems a bit burdensome though.

I've been hearing that with these all electric cars (like the Leaf (I think they'll soon be an all electric Ford Focus also)) you'll be able to replace the battery pack at a refueling station in almost the same time it takes to fill a tank with gasoline. I don't see why such an option wouldn't work with a CNG tank as well.

Boost for natural gas cars: Home fueling - US news - Environment - Green Machines - msnbc.com

 

[Bird]

I can't claim to know much about refueling natural gas vehicles, but I do know there are at least two different kinds of fueling stations. When I was doing leakage surveys for gas companies in '93-'94, one of gas companies was running dual fuel; i.e., gasoline and natural gas, in their pickups and they had one fueling station where the guys raised the hood and hooked up the natural gas line at the end of the day and left it overnight to refuel. But at another location, they had a fueling station where they could hook up the gas line and refuel in no more time that it would take to fill a gasoline tank.

 

[dave1949]

Here is one example, it seems there are several cng fueled bus trials/uses. Google 'cng fueled buses'. I hope it is safe if they are using in school buses. Of course, buses all get refueled at the bus barn with no kids around probably.

Kansas City public schools purchases 47 CNG-fueled Thomas Built buses — Autoblog Green

Dave.

 

[Bird]

USPS (United States Postal Service) uses a lot of CNG powered delivery vehicles.

 

[sseelhoff]

USPS (United States Postal Service) uses a lot of CNG powered delivery vehicles.

The Miller beer and Mrs. Baird's bread trucks in the Dallas Metroplex are also CNG vehicles. UPS has 167 of them in Dallas, as well.

I just read recently that another distribution fleet was converting their trucks to CNG, but don't recall which one.

 

[jinman]

I believe DART wants to buy new/convert their bus fleet to all CNG. Here's a story from The Dallas Morning News.

 

[keegs]

I can still smell that diesel exhaust that came out of the back of the NY MTA buses in the City. Not good.

They've been fazing out the diesels for a few years now and replacing them with CNG. I think LA is starting to do this too.

 

[dave1949]

Thinking of Jim's fear of the public refueling cng, I wonder if many of those commercial fleet operations have a dedicated, trained re-fuel team of employees?

I don't know that I'd want to share a gas station when some of the less attentive or thoughtful folks would be engaged in cng refuel. :laughing: I can see where that could be dangerous.
Dave.

 

[jinman]

I don't know that I'd want to share a gas station when some of the less attentive or thoughtful folks would be engaged in cng refuel. :laughing: I can see where that could be dangerous.
Dave.

Yep, how do you get people to quit smoking, put down their cell phone, and take off those static-generating spandex tights and undies :shocked: while fueling?

Yesterday, my wife and I went on a craigslist computer buying spree (Yippee!). As we drove toward Denton, TX on highway 380, there was a Phillips 66 station with regular gas and diesel both at $3.679 per gallon. I thought that was the lowest price, but we stopped at Sam's Club to pick up a few things and their regular gas was $3.659 a gal. That's not a good price, but cheaper than it has been and indicates a downward trend. I bought 30 gallons of tractor diesel yesterday morning at the Walmart Murphy station in Bowie, TX and paid $3.749 a gallon. While on my trip, I noticed another Phllips 66 station/truck stop advertising diesel for $3.939 a gal., $0.28 per gallon differential.