Enthusiasm for Natural Gas Cools

MADRID

Disadvantages of the technology include bulky tanks, low-power motors and a high initial investment cost to build distribution infrastructure; vehicles powered by liquified gas, moreover, are still more expensive to make than equivalent conventional-fuel models. Still, the technology is revolutionizing transport in many countries, especially those with indigenous reserves of natural gas.

On the plus side, methane is abundant, widespread, relatively cheap and burns more cleanly than conventional fuels.

Yet, in industrialized countries, the retreat of oil prices from the heights of last year has been paralleled by a loss of interest in natural gas as an alternative transport fuel. In Europe, where some governments promoted the use of natural gas in public transport fleets when oil prices were rising, a mass shift in that direction now seems less likely. One reason is that although natural gas burns more cleanly than oil, it is increasingly seen as not burning cleanly enough.

NY Times