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Trouble with natural gas... people are almost as terrified of frac'ing, and shale gas as they are of the evil "tar sands". That said, the rest of the world is
by blindhippo 14y ago
Trouble with natural gas... people are almost as terrified of frac'ing, and shale gas as they are of the evil "tar sands". That said, the rest of the world is investing heavily in Canadian natural gas - it's one of the primary motivators behind the current national debate (in Canada) over pipelines out of Alberta.
Can a large cargo ship be run using only liquid natural gas? Can we power generators using just natural gas?
I'm very curious about the limits of natural gas as a power source.
- debacle 14y agoThe only real limit is compression. Many public service vehicles locally are switching over to natural gas.
- calgaryeng 14y agoNot just compression. NG also has a much lower energy density than oil/gasoline. Not as compact
- blindhippo 14y agoDoes a natural gas engine work similar to a gasoline engine?
- maxerickson 14y agoThe internals are essentially identical. The fuel system needs to be adapted to handle the natural gas though. Looking around, it appears that there are vehicles on the road that can switch at pretty much the push of a button.
- noblethrasher 14y agoYep. Where I work we have a fleet of cars that do just that.
- tocomment 14y agoI just found this article: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4360904 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4360904 It explains the process pretty well. It's really a shame it's so expensive when you really don't need that many parts or modifications.
- noonespecial 14y agoI converted a car I found in a junkyard to work off propane when I was a student in the 90's with nothing but hand tools.
- grammaton 14y agoOne limit as far as production is concerned is the availability of water. Natural gas production in the United States has declined over the last several months due to drought triggered water shortages. As it turns out showing up and proposing to dump a large amount of the local water supply down a hole in the ground in the middle of the drought is not finding many takers.