Living Like Ed - (Page 79) In the meantime, you can get a car today that burns one of these other alternative fuels. And if you can get around and do the tasks you need to do while you’re burning one of these other fuels—while you’re burning natural gas or propane or biodiesel or ethanol—it’s often better for the environment than burning gasoline in a regular internal-combustion-engine car. You may also qualify for some tax benefits, or be able to drive alone and still use the carpool lane. In California, you have to get a special sticker for your vehicle that will allow you to use the high-occupancy vehicle, or HOV, lane. Anyone who has dealt with L.A. traffic knows this can be a very big benefit indeed. So let’s take a quick look at each of these other alternative fuels and see what your options are today. Natural Gas 2: Natural gas is a fossil fuel, but it’s one of the cleanest-burning alternative fuels. Also, it’s made primarily from methane. Furthermore, almost 87 percent of the natural gas used in the United States is produced right here in the U.S., so switching from a gasoline-powered car to a natural gas car helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Consumers don’t have many choices when it comes to shopping for a natural gas–powered car. In 2007 only one vehicle that ran exclusively on natural gas was available to consumers in the United States (as opposed to governments or big companies for their fleets). Actually, it was being sold only in California and New York. That vehicle is the Honda Civic GX NGV (for natural gas vehicle). It comes with a device called Phill, a refueling appliance that you connect to your home’s gas line, the same type of gas line that fuels your stove or your clothes dryer. That way, you can fuel the car at home overnight, which makes it just as convenient as an electric car. A full tank gives you a range of 220 Go Natural When It Comes to Gas to 240 miles, so you can go pretty COST: from about far with it, and if you use it around $24,590 (MSRP) town, you will never have to go to a filling station. 79 transportation emissions by 1.7 billion tons by the year 2050. That’s more than 80 percent of our current
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