RE: T. Boone Pickens plans for 8 million trucks to run on natural gas
A basic problem with compressed natural gas for vehicles is, you need pressures of 3500 psi to get a decent range. That's why its a good idea to focus on school buses, transit buses, trucks, etc as the first to be powered by CNG.
Note that the 3500 psi storage pressure (when a vehicle is fully fueled) for natural gas, is less than the 5000 psi or more you need with hydrogen. So if we're going to use a light gas as a transportation fuel, I'd prefer natural gas.
For the cars most of us drive, I'd prefer that we continue research and development of ways to break down cellulose from various forms of biomass, into simple sugars for subsequent fermentation into ethanol. Right now, a large percentage of Chevrolets and other GM vehicles, are FlexFuel. So using ethanol/gasoline blends is the easiest way to displace foreign oil.
About electric cars: A high percentage of the electric power we use, comes from natural gas-fired turbines. So we need to ask: If the power to run a vehicle is going to come from NG, what's more efficient: A compressed natural gas-fired spark-ignition engine, or plugging an electric vehicle in for recharging from a NG-fired electric power station?
