Natural gas (NG) vehicles are an excellent concept. They work nearly the same as gasoline cars, but NG vehicles have two advantages over gasoline. NG is cleaner-burning than gasoline, although it does pollute somewhat. Also, there is more NG left in the world than crude oil. We are less likely to run out of NG soon than we are oil. Also, much of that NG is inside the U.S., so we wouldn't have to import it the way we do oil. NG is also safer to transport than gasoline.
Clean Hydrocarbon Fuel (CHF)
CHF is derived from resources such as petroleum, NG, and coal. CHF will work in current vehicles. Only Toyota seems to be developing this fuel. Although not much info is available about it, CHF is analogous to biofuel. Current vehicles require no conversion, and CHF vehicles generate few or no emissions.
Propane
Propane is liquified natural gas. It is a mixture of propane, propylene, butane, and butylene. Propane vehicles pollute less, cost less, and use domestic-made fuel. Maintainence costs are lower. Propane vehicles have a shorter range, though. About 350,000 propane vehicles are in the U.S., with a total of about 4 million globally.
Conclusion
In conclusion, most of the truly radical technologies, such as hydrogen, solar, and electric, are not likely to be developed soon. The end of cheap oil may in fact come before these technologies are readily available. The most reasonable alternative to gasoline (currently, anyway) would be biofuels/biomass. Nationwide conversion to biofuels would reduce our dependence on oil. The conversion would be simple: once large-scale produciton of biofuel begins, simply begin tanking biofuel to fuel stations instead of gasoline. Most consumers probably would not even notice a change, except for the lower prices the conversion would bring.
Write your senator, call the President, whatever you have to do, help begin the conversion to alternate energy vehicles RIGHT NOW!!!
