Methane - My Second Mass Transit Time Saver

"OK, that's it! I can't do this anymore!" I mumbled to myself after yet another two-hour commute home from work. I told you a few blogs back that I live 50 miles East of LA. Everyday I drive, or should I say chug along, 44 miles one way to my day job. I have worked there for 15 years and for the last 8 plus, I have had access to the mass-transit mover - the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) Lane, better known as the Carpool Lane. No, I was not the good citizen forming a group hug with my neighbors to save on gas. I drove alone. How did I do that, you ask?

In 2003 I purchased a car that California classified as a super ultra–low emission vehicle (SULEV) and then in 2008 I bought an advanced technology partial zero–emission vehicle (ATPZEV). In California, if you have, or had in the case of the ATPZEV, one of these you can ride solo in the HOV lanes. My first vehicle was an all-electric Toyota Rav4-EV. I motored this for five and a half years and racked up over 125,000 gas-free miles. It was a blast! This electron powered ride got me the SULEV white sticker and I was off to the carpool races, cutting a minimum of 60 minutes from my previous three plus hour round trip commute. Then I purchased a Toyota Prius, with a yellow ATPZEV sticker and drove it another three years and almost 75,000 miles, keeping my daily excursion to about two hours.

But California, in its infinite wisdom, expired the yellow stickers this past July. "OK", I thought, "I'm tough. I did this before and I can do it again." So for two and a half months I have endured daily 90 minute one-way commutes with frequent two-hour struggles thrown in. Finally I said enough is enough and I started the search for another white sticker savior. Now the white stickers are essentially limited to only one of two types of cars. The first is what I had before, an all-electric car, of which there are almost none that can make the 88 mile daily round trip without an intermediate charge. With my Rav4EV, I was able to charge at work but that option no longer exists.

The second choice is a vehicle that runs on Methane or natural gas (80%+ methane). These vehicles still sparsely populate the gamut of consumer transportation options available, at least in the USA - I understand in other countries like Brasil they are widely driven, but compressed natural gas (CNG for short) is often used in fleet vehicles, such as city buses and utility trucks. A vehicle that runs on methane qualifies for the white sticker so if I could find one, I would be "In Like Flint." There are essentially two choices available here, a Honda Civic GX or a Toyota Camry CNG. The Camry was only made for three years and as far as I can tell, only about 800 were made. I was looking for a used car and I am definitely a Toyota fan so when I found one of the rare Camry CNGs, I scooped it up faster than a hummingbird in a hurricane. Now I have my second white sticker and I am sailing past the minions on the 605.


So what is the big deal about methane? Why does it get white sticker status over a petrol-electric hybrid? Methane is CH₄, the simplest of hydrocarbons. It is clean burning, producing mainly carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O). Because it produces fewer nasty emissions than its big brother gasoline, it is preferred for reducing carbon pollution. It does add to the total global CO₂ load and it is considered a "greenhouse gas" on its own, however. Compared to gasoline the pollution reduction is significant and being locally grown, reduces our dependence on foreign oil.

Natural gas is abundant and relatively inexpensive which makes it attractive as a fuel source. Compared to a gallon of gasoline, currently at just under $4 in my town, a gasoline gallon equivalent (gge) of natural gas is about half the price. Transportation is not its only use, it is piped into millions of homes here in the United States, as well as in other countries, and is used for space heating, cooking and hot water. It is also used industrially to generate electricity and as a starter for the formation of fertilizers. Natural gas is mostly methane but does contain other heavier hydrocarbons, most notably ethane (C₂H₆) and propane (C₃H₈), the stuff that fires up the Barbie.

Methane has now come to save me from my endless drive-time hassles and I am blessed. Cruising to work in my white steed, my Camry with the HOV sticker, I am free again, at least until 2015!

"The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. Proverbs 4:18 (NIV)"