Compressed Natural Gas (CNG): Potential Applications for Advanced Transportation Tanks and Vehicle Systems

Altenpohl, D. & Rogner, H.-H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1045-9830 (1988). Compressed Natural Gas (CNG): Potential Applications for Advanced Transportation Tanks and Vehicle Systems. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-88-047

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Abstract

The adequate supply of transport fuel has been a continuous concern ever since the automobile and individual modes of travel began the so far impetuous penetration into the transport sector. Over the years it should have become obvious that the running-out of oil phenomena is largely the result of a misperception regarding the dynamic role of technical change on the economics of hydrocarbon exploration and production, in short, on liquid fuel supply. Thus, oil availability appears not to threaten our mobility even in the medium-to-long-term future. The question of using natural gas as a transport fuel, therefore, is not a response to diminishing oil resources but the result of environmental considerations. This is particularly the case for diesel trucks and busses operating in densely populated metropolitan areas. In the past the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) as a clean and efficient vehicle fuel hinged on the heavy weight storage cylinders impacting adversely the available pay-load. Advanced light-weight reinforced aluminum storage cylinders have partially removed this obstacle. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of CNG technology and offers indications of early application niches for CNG based vehicle systems.

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