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Congress and automakers seem to be gearing up for a fight over mpg standards. It seems to me that both carmakers and government officials are missing a key point: fuel economy may be less important than choice of fuel.
Granted, some alternative fuels are not yet ready for prime time, but
compressed natural gas ( CNG) was touted as a viable automotive fuel source in the 1990's; an engine conversion kit could be had for around $200 to $300. CNG failed to catch on back then for probably a lot of reasons, but I suspect the lack of fueling stations coupled with a lack of real commitment by the government, Detroit, and the oil companies -- and a drop in crude oil cost -- spelled the program's doom.
The United States and Canada sit on roughly 90% of the world's natural gas supply. Despite CNG's earlier failure, it may be time to revisit this source of clean-burning fuel -- particularly for use as a stopgap while we search for viable combinations of other alternatives.
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