NATURAL GAS FOR CARS AND TRUCKS: OPTIONS AND CHALLENGES - Natural Gas-powered Cars and Trucks: Options and Issues - page 10

with it). 43 Royal Dutch Shell operates two GTL plants outside the
United States, and other companies are studying the feasibility of
constructing GTL plants on the U.S Gulf Coast. 44 There are no
known plans to use GTL to fuel motor vehicles in the United States,
but Shell has announced that it will use the technology to create
lower-viscosity engine oils to improve fuel economy. 45 GTL-based
lubricants are used in some U.S. light vehicles. 46

 Hydrogen, produced mainly from natural gas, can be used to power

fuel cell vehicles. This process relies on the existing natural gas
supply and pipeline network: 95% of the hydrogen produced in the
United States is made this way in 73 plants. 47 Hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles have been under development for well over a decade, with
substantial research and development by automakers and the
Department of Energy (DOE) to find a competitively priced vehicle
technology. Methods of making hydrogen from natural gas currently
result in significant greenhouse gas emissions, so further research is
seen as necessary to develop better processes. 48 The absence of a
refueling network is also a challenge. A few manufacturers will
introduce fuel cell cars in 2015. 49

 Butanol is an alcohol that can be used as a gasoline substitute. It can be

produced almost entirely from petroleum, but like ethanol, the
colorless alcohol can also be brewed from sugar beets, cereal crops,
and corn, though it contains more energy when mixed into gasoline. A
blend of 85% butanol and 15% gasoline can be used in unmodified
gasoline engines. 50 Butanol depends on natural gas indirectly as fuel
source for the distillation processes, can be transported in existing
gasoline pipelines, and produces more power per gallon than ethanol.
It can be used in existing motor vehicles without any adjustments to
the engines and can be sold through gasoline stations, much as
gasoline/ethanol blends are sold now. It may debut at U.S. pumps as
soon as next year: A BP-DuPont joint venture is retrofitting a
Minnesota ethanol plant to begin producing butanol for vehicles in
2015. 51

Natural-Gas-Based Electricity

Spurring the production and use of electric vehicles is another way to use
natural gas in vehicles. In 2013, 27% of U.S. electricity was generated from