Carbon Sciences, Inc. (CABN), a developer of a breakthrough technology to make transportation fuels and other valuable products from natural gas, commented that gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology offers clear advantages over compressed natural gas (CNG) with regards to environment and infrastructure.
While most experts agree that natural gas will be the world’s next great source of fuel and most certain way to achieve energy security, there is significant debate surrounding how the resource should be used. There is increasing dialogue and support for CNG as a transportation fuel, however this use of natural gas suffers from severe infrastructure and environmental challenges.
While the U.S. possesses substantial reserves of natural gas, the production, distribution and processing (infrastructure) of CNG, as a transportation fuel, is not as environmentally friendly as some would suggest. The lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions for compressed natural gas engines may actually be higher than those of diesel engines due to methane being 20-times more harmful than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. Also, before CNG can actually be used as a fuel, new vehicles, new fueling stations and new fuel delivery infrastructure must be built first. Assuming that thousands of new CNG fueling stations are built and that millions of new CNG powered vehicle are placed in service, there is no assurance that the inevitable methane leaks can be contained.
