[Big Dave]

I’ve been reading about this gas “fracking” thing and it may (eventually) be a game-changer.

For the last year or so with fracked gas on the market, natura gas has been selling for $3.75-$4.50/MMBTU on the NYMEX at Henry Hub. Add two buck/MMBTU for transportation and compression, and we have an untaxed price of $5.75-6.50/MMBTU. 1 MMBTU is (1/0.1276=) 7.837 gallon gasoline equivalent. Untaxed that means CNG prices would range from $0.73 to $0.829 per gallon gasoline equivalent. Add 85 cents for rax and we see natural gas in the $1.50-$1.70 range.

Very competitive.

So how do we take advantage of it, presuming it becomes widely available?

Myself, I would not use a diesel with an add-on carburetor or natural gas injection system. What you are doing there is using your diesel engine as a very heavy and inefficient spark plug.

Me, I’d get a vehicle with a gas engine. Jack up the compression and advance the ignition timing to take advantage of the high octane of CNG. One of these new F-150s with their direct-injection twin-turbo V-6s would do nicely. (although I’ve heard negative reports about their six-speed automatics – I’ve heard they “hunt” for torque converter lockup)

Pull out the gas tank and put a small CNG tank in its place. Put my main CNG tanks in the bed. The bed will be filled up with fuel tanks and would be useless for cargo. (Maybe a gooseneck hitch ball or maybe a small fith wheel) I’d fair it over with an aerodynamic lid. Make the truck a big coupe. In an 80 bed plus the original gas tank space I figure that gives me a vehicle with maybe 700 miles range and enough cargo space to haul my groceries.

Remember that the injectors and fuel lines will have to be considerably bigger to accommodate the less dense fuel.

What would really be sweet: In some parts of the country some properties have old played-out gas wells. WV, OH, and IN are full of them. Now “played-out” means commercially. Quite possibly the old well can produce enough gas to run your vehicle (and house). You can buy small prep plants (removes the hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide) and a compressor in a shipping container. A little plumbing and wiring and Bingo! Free gas! Well, not quite free, the electric motors require power.

Now the pain of a big vehicle that has little payload space becomes very livable.