Orlando Ayala
Advanced American Culture
The use of natural gas in cars is an attractive option for consumers. Gasoline has been used as a combustible fuel in cars since the car was invented, but at the moment, natural gas is also being used widely. Although natural gas and gasoline are both used as combustible fuels in internal combustion engines, they have three characteristics: cost, power development, and contaminant production which, when analyzed, show that natural gas is more beneficial than gasoline.
Cost is a big point of contrast because the difference between them is huge. Gasoline's cost is approximately forty times more than that of natural gas. Why is there such a big difference? The answer is in the way that each is produced. Both natural gas and gasoline are petroleum derived, but natural gas is easier to obtain than gasoline. Moreover, gasoline is obtained after a long process of refinement; crude petroleum is repeatedly refined until gasoline is obtained. In contrast, natural gas is obtained in a ready-to-use state. Because natural gas and petroleum are mixed together in an oil field, when the petroleum is extracted, the natural gas comes with it. Obviously, natural gas is cheaper than gasoline because we do not need an expensive process to obtain it.
On the other hand, pollution, which is one of the most important problems in the world, is another excellent point of contrast. The problem of pollution associated with natural gas and gasoline is that all combustion processes, using either fuel, produce CO (carbon monoxide), which is the worst contaminant in this kind of process. One way to avoid this contaminant is to make the combustion process more complete. The combustion process is perfect when its products do not have CO. Natural gas offers, if not a perfect process, a cleaner and better combustion process than gasoline offers. Consequently, natural gas in the combustion process produces less contaminant than gasoline produces. Therefore, if pollution is a concern to humanity, natural gas represents an option to avoid it.
A third point to discuss is how natural gas and gasoline affect power development in internal combustion engines. Contrary to what was explained in the previous paragraphs regarding the advantages of the use of natural gas; in this point gasoline has an advantage over natural gas. The combustion process in internal combustion engines is necessary to convert the chemical energy of the combustible fuel to mechanical energy, which is used by the car to develop power. Logically, the more chemical energy that the combustible fuel has, the more power can be developed by the car. Because gasoline has more chemical energy than natural gas, gasoline is better for power development. Certainly, engines with gasoline as the combustible fuel will develop more power than engines with natural gas as the combustible fuel. However, even though the previous statement is true, this reduction of power could still satisfy the requirements in cars; the users do not need great power. The amount of power only depends on the use that one needs from the engine.
In conclusion, although natural gas and gasoline are used for the same purpose, as combustible fuel in internal combustion engines, they have different characteristics. Engines that use gasoline develop more power than engines that use natural gas. However, gasoline's cost is forty times more than that of natural gas. In addition to being cheaper, natural gas produces less contaminant in the combustion process than gasoline produces. It is true that when you use natural gas in engines, they produce less power than when you use gasoline. But, it is better to use natural gas instead of gasoline because natural gas has more important benefits than gasoline, i.e., relating to the conservation of resources and the protection of the environment. Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States are urging the governments of different countries to regulate pollution policies. Also, because the economic situation is bad in some countries of the world, the people there prefer a cheaper combustible fuel as an option for their cars. Due to these factors, I think that in the next few years more and more cars throughout the world will use natural gas.