Go Green with CNG

CNG stands for Compressed Natural Gas and its fast becoming the next big thing to power cars. I was doing a paper last semester that involves a little research into this green fuel and I must say I was a little astonished on wad CNG could do. Presently there is only one CNG refill station in S'pore and its in Jurong Island but come next year and there will be one up and running in Mandai with 4 more by 2011. Most people dun really know that normal cars can be refitted to run on CNG, nor do they know about the benefits of doing so. It can basically work by adding a conversion kit into a normal car to allow it to run on both CNG and petrol by using a switch. A gas tank is installed in the boot for the CNG storage

Advantage

1. Per litre of CNG cost much less than that of petrol 75 cents to $1.60 for a 92. Save $$.
   
2. CNG produces much less pollution than petrol or diesel. E.g. CNG produce 25% and 50% less CO2 than petrol and diesel respectively.
3. As it burns more cleanly, its supposedly less stressful for the engine

Disadvantage
This is not god's juice, so there's bound to be disadvantages

1. Decreased performance due to added weight for gas tank and engine optimally designed for petrol use.
2. Lesser space due to the added gas tank.
3. Car's warranty may be void due to conversion kit.
   

The conversion kit cost about $2000 in total while this is expected to be recouped within a year. With the new CNG stations coming up, I hope to see more people converting their car to run on CNG and more CNG cars being brought in. Save the World!
For more info on CNG conversion in S'pore, click here.

For the bored, here's something interesting, 50 ways to cook instant noodles.