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Natural gas is cleaner and more economical as a fuel for passenger vehicles than gasoline, but sales of cars that run on natural gas have been very slow. A Washington Post article explains the problems.

The Christian Science Monitor has an article that explains how some trucking companies are turning away from diesel fuel in favor of natural gas and how that switch can mean lower prices (and cleaner air) for you.

Utility companies, city governments, county governments, school districts, and trucking companies are building CNG fueling stations in North Carolina. In addition to serving their owners, the pumps are available to dispense CNG to the public.

“The New Truck Stop” will feature natural gas pumps that will enable big rigs to take advantage of the abundant gas from shale.

Last year Ford sold a record number of natural gas vehicles – four times as many as they sold in 2010. However, the number sold was just 11,600.

They call it “renewable methanol”. As carbon dioxide is emitted at a geothermal plant in Iceland it is being converted into methanol that will be blended with gasoline by a Dutch oil company.

A guy tries to steal a taxi but drives down a closed road and runs into a landslide.

An entrepreneur in Arkansas goes from running his diesel pickup truck on waste oil from a catfish restaurant to selling millions of dollars worth of consulting and products that help people run their vehicles on unconventional fuels.

The Energy Information Administration has published a series of maps showing the location of several alternative transportation fuels. Maps for biodiesel, CNG, electric, ethanol, hydrogen, LNG and propane are included.

Garbage trucks, delivery trucks, buses, taxis and personal vehicles are now saving the equivalent of $1 to $2 per gallon as they run on natural gas. One year ago EQT Corp. built a natural gas fueling station for its own vehicles near Pittsburgh and opened it to the public – now it delivers about 500 fill-up per month to non-company vehicles.

A CNN article reports on some of the first public charging stations for electric cars. They differ from getting a fill-up at a traditional gasoline station because “fill-ups” can require a few hours.

Trucks could consume up to 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2030. Most of that natural gas is expected to be in the form of LNG.

Twenty-two states are soliciting bids for natural gas vehicles that will be used in state government auto pools.

To promote the use of abundant supplies of Pennsylvania natural gas, the Commonwealth is offering $20 million in grant funding to assist in the conversion of vehicles to natural gas. The target is primarily fleet operators such as regional transit organizations, school districts and companies.

“Lithium has a number of uses but one of the most valuable is as a component of high energy-density rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.”

There is an interesting article on the ExxonMobil Perspectives website titled “How many gallons of gasoline would it take to charge an iPhone?“. It compares the energy density of various fuels and demonstrates why it will be difficult to replace the use of liquid fuels like gasoline in certain uses.

An article on the Forbes.com website explores the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel in China. “At the end of 2010, more than 80 cities across China had gas refilling facilities and the number of CNG/LNG refill stations totaled more than 1,000.” They appear to be way ahead of the United States.

An article on Forbes.com reviews some aspects of the NAT GAS Act, which has a goal of stimulating the demand for domestic natural gas by funding infrastructure that will support the use of natural gas vehicles.

The Financial Times has an article that describes the joint efforts of General Electric and Chesapeake Energy to increase the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.

General Motors plans to produce a new line of pickup trucks that can be fueled by compressed natural gas or standard gasoline. This will allow owners to take advantage of the low price of natural gas and help the United States consume an oversupply.

T. Boone Pickens says that he is for American energy and makes a pitch for energy independence.

“Electric cars have been heralded as environmentally friendly, but findings from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, researchers show that electric cars in China have an overall impact on pollution that could be more harmful to health than gasoline vehicles.” Quoted from the NSF press release.

President Obama proposes a tax credit that will refund 50% of the extra cost paid for a natural gas-fueled truck above what would have been paid for the same truck with a diesel or gasoline fuel system. This is the type of incentive needed to assure that US natural gas contributes to US energy independence.