Compressed Natural Gas.

Compressed Natural Gas. One million CNG vehicles are now operating worldwide. Argentina has the largest fleet at 400,000, followed by Italy (300,000), Russia (300,000), the US (85,100), Venezuela (50,000), New Zealand (45,000), Canada (32,000), Egypt (5,000 -- the government sets the price of natural gas 55 percent lower than gasoline), Germany (2,500), India (1,600), Japan (1,300), Malaysia (1,000), France (600), and the UK (400). • One optimistic study predicts Malaysia and Japan each could have 200,000 natural gas vehicles (NGVs) by 2000. • In India, the World Bank estimates natural gas could replace 25 percent of the gasoline and diesel used. Most existing NGVs are conventionally fueled cars -- either with spark ignition or diesel engines -- that have been retrofitted. • Required changes include installing pressurized tanks for CNG storage, adding fuel lines for gaseous fuel as well as a gaseous fuel mixer and adjusting the engine management computer. Bi-fuel (gasoline/natural gas) vehicle configurations are also available. • After-market CNG conversions have had high failure rates and, in some cases, pollute more than gasoline version. Factory-made CNG models built "from the ground up" are more reliable and, in the US, EPA-certified.