Natural gas, whose price is at record lows thanks to a shale drilling
boom, is gaining traction as an alternative energy in the United
States, with automakers jumping on the bandwagon.
The use of natural gas instead of oil-based gasoline to drive the
country’s cars and trucks “is definitely starting to take off,” said
Mark Hanson, an analyst at investment research firm Morningstar.
“The economics seem to work,” he said, noting it was “just a question
of what pace” the necessary infrastructure will take to develop.
Gas is in focus as a potential engine fuel because “it is
tremendously good fuel,” said David Cole, the chairman emeritus of the
Center for Automotive Research.
Unlike gasoline, whose rising prices are causing pain at the pump for
consumers, natural gas is cheap in the United States as supplies bulge
from production in the country’s vast shale gas formations.
