By John Ballard
With an environmental train wreck unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico America is experiencing a teachable moment.
From Gas 2.0... Since November 2007, Gas 2.0 has been dedicated to news and information for those looking to move beyond petroleum-based fuels.
Ahh Taxis. Love �em or hate �em, they provide a much-needed service to millions of Americans and travelers on an annual basis. While mostly relegated to cities, taxis can be found just about anywhere. But with stop-and-go driving the most popular taxis based on heavy, obsolete sedans, these vehicles consume far more than their fair share of fuel.
California Yellow Cab, in a bid to curb its oil consumption, has purchased 25 Ford Transit Connect vans for taxi use. While frugal with fuel already, Yellow Cab is going one step further by converting them to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
In the past, Ford has offered CNG vehicles to fleet buyers. It doesn�t currently offer the Transit Connect as a CNG straight off the lot, but it is selling CNG upfit versions that they have provided to Yellow Cab to ensure a smooth conversion process. CNG is often touted as a right-now solution to our oil addiction, though like every potential solution, it has its detractors.
The Transit Connect has recently been approved by a number of cities for taxi use, as it is both fuel efficient and affords a lot of cargo space, an absolute must for most taxis. Ford has a pretty good stranglehold on the taxi market, with the obsolete Crown Victoria, Ford Escape, and Escape hybrid making up large chunks of the hybrid market. And I imagine once the all-electric version of the Transit Connect hits markets later this year, it will become quite popular with taxi companies across the country.
Sooner or later the political will to replace liquid petroleum products with "greener" alternatives will move from charming notion to mandate.
Compressed natural gas is by definition a liquid petroleum product, but it's way ahead of gasoline in terms of economy and ecology and a realistic step on the way to all-electric cars.
Brown finds so much stuff I don't know how he has time to blog. His images blow me away. But he's retired from the State Department where sifting through a lot of shit is a way of life.
Sure. Actually, all the taxis in the great Asian metropolises have been LNG for a long time...or at least Seoul and Tokyo.
ReplyDeleteThe best part of LNG (or propane) as a step away from gasoline is that it's a fairly simple conversion. If you happen to have a vehicle equipped with a carburetor you can do the whole thing for like $300 in your driveway. Fuel injection systems are a little tougher.
But it gets better. Because LNG is CH4, there is almost no engine fouling. An uncle was working at Ford's prototype lab during some testing of LNG vehicles. One did 50,000 miles of continuous driving and the oil was still honey colored. An LNG engine will last for just about ever and not suffer from increased emissions and decreased efficiency like a gasoline engine will.
MPG, however, is about equal to gasoline. Good diesel technology would be a welcomed addition to American motoring; it's now cleaner than both gas and even gas-electric hybrids thanks to urea catalyzers...better mileage than hybrids too. And it can be made from biological sources as part of the short-term carbon cycle.