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Natural gas: natural choice? Steve Johnson photo Steve Vincent of Avista Utilities fuels his Ford Crown Victoria with compressed natural gas at the Jackson County shops. Thanks to new technology and federal mandates to clean up the air, county government and local residents are finding natural gas an environment-friendly and inexpensive alternative to gasoline. Natural gas-powered vehicles offer a clean alternative to fossil fuels By MELISSA MARTIN Ron Rosenthal paid 75 cents a gallon for fuel when he filled up his new Ford F150 pickup truck this week. The Medford builder knew he was getting a bargain, but he also knew the fuel would produce about 80 percent fewer harmful tailpipe emissions. Rosenthal is among a few local residents and dozens of county employees and bus drivers who cruise Rogue Valley streets in natural gas-powered vehicles. Fueling this new trend are federal mandates to clean up the air; American automakers' production of sedans and pickups that will take natural gas; and natural gas itself, which costs less, produces far fewer emissions and is an abundant natural resource that's piped from the Rocky Mountains into the Rogue Valley. "If everybody was driving an alternative-fuel vehicle, there would be a lot less junk in the air," said Rosenthal, who's leasing and hopes to someday purchase the $32,000 extended cab pickup. "That's important in terms of our health and in terms of reliance on fossil fuels." Rosenthal ordered his pickup from Butler Ford in Ashland, which has sold 28 alternative-fuel vehicles -- including Jackson County's new natural-gas fleet, said owner Chuck Butler. "Butler Ford and the Ford Motor Co. are committed to a cleaner environment and less dependency on foreign fuels," Butler said. "It's a big job changing the past 100 years of automotive history and the public views of what works and what does not work, but we are trying." Local drivers find compressed natural gas (CNG) has advantages over crude oil fuel: It's half the price of gasoline; it produces at least 20 percent less carbon dioxide; it's a dissipating, low-pressure-burning gas that won't explode in a crash; it's readily available from two underground pipelines serving the Medford area; and it's purer and easier on engines. "These engines run really clean," said Vi Curtis, manager of the Jackson County Motor Pool. "When we change the oil, even after 5,000 miles, it's as clean as the day we put it in." Jackson County is the local leader in alternative fuel vehicles, investing $600,000 two years ago for 16 natural-gas-powered Crown Victorias and F150 pickups. It also installed a fueling station that can fill vehicles in about five minutes for 68 cents a gallon. "It's just like going to the gas station," Curtis said. For the past two years, Ford Motor Co. has been building its own compressed-natural-gas vehicles from start to finish at its Detroit plant. The result is a better product, said Charles Longmire, master mechanic at Butler Ford. "CNG vehicles will last longer and require less maintenance because the fuel is so clean," said Longmire. He is the only mechanic in Southern Oregon certified to repair natural gas, propane and electric vehicles. "There's no carbon biproducts, so the oil lasts five times longer and it doesn't get dirty," he said. Besides being clean, natural gas can be convenient for folks driving close to home, said Steve Vincent, government relations representative for Avista Utilities in Medford. Drivers could invest in a slow-fill compressor that taps the natural gas line and refuels the vehicle's tank overnight. Technicians who work with CH4, the chemical structure of compressed natural gas, say it's safer than propane. "The hydrocarbons in compressed natural gas have no oxygen molecules to bond with, so the gas dissipates in the air and won't burn," Longmire explained. For example, natural gas burns on the stovetop at about one pound per square inch, but it won't burn at 3,000 pounds per square inch, the amount of pressure in a CNG vehicle's tank, he said. The safety record of natural gas makes it the perfect fuel for 10 buses that cruise Rogue Valley streets, said Bill Trempe, maintenance supervisor for Rogue Valley Transportation District, the first district in the state to switch to natural gas. RVTD's station pulls natural gas out of the main pipeline at 55 pounds per square inch and compresses it to 3,000 pounds, the pressure needed to keep a bus running for about three-quarters of a day, Trempe said. "We can run about 200 miles, but we fuel up twice a day," he said. Despite its safety track record and lower costs, compressed natural gas is not perfect. The drawbacks? Drivers can't stray too far from a CNG fueling station because vehicles can travel only about 180 miles on a tank of fuel. (However, most drivers add accessory tanks to double their mileage.) And CNG vehicle drivers can't out-gun a gas engine while climbing the Siskiyou Summit or out-spin a diesel at an intersection. "You lose about 10 percent of the horsepower," Longmire said. "But most people who drive a CNG vehicle would never feel the difference." Until fueling stations show up along the Interstate 5 corridor, natural gas-powered vehicles will have to stick close to home. "The big deal is the distance," Longmire said. "If you've ever been out off the main highway looking for diesel fuel, you know what I mean. "Right now, people are saying, `Hey, I can get gasoline anywhere, anytime, so why should I switch?"' Drivers like Rosenthal have found the best of both worlds. His F150 is a bifuel truck with a computer-controlled fuel injection valve and tanks for both CNG and gasoline. Rosenthal can flip a switch and fill the gasoline tank if he finds himself in a state where CNG is scarce. Drivers need to change their habits for both environmental and economic reasons, Jackson County Commissioner Ric Holt told 700 people who attended an alternative fuel symposium this month in San Diego. The United States, which gets more than half of its crude oil from Venezuela and the Persian Gulf, is now competing with oil-producing China, which began importing oil in 1993. "Early in the 1970s, my bosses on many occasions would discuss world energy in the future and how China, once they became industrialized, would change the world's energy picture," Holt told the symposium audience. Holt worked his way up to the corporate level of Gulf Oil Corp. in the 13 years he worked for the company. The federal government is helping motivate drivers to switch fuels. The Rogue Valley was the first region in the Pacific Northwest to join Clean Cities, a United States Department of Energy program that encourages alternative fuel fleets. In part, the designation increases funding for folks who change fuel sources, said Avista's Vincent, who also serves as local Clean Cities coordinator. "We just received an $80,000 grant to give away $2,000 to anyone who buys a dedicated compressed natural gas vehicle," Vincent said. Switching to a nonpolluting fuel may be difficult for the trucking industry, according to a spokesman for Freightliner. The Portland company is North America's largest manufacturer of heavy duty trucks, including natural gas-powered rigs. The Environmental Protection Agency this week announced it will require near-zero emission standards for heavy-duty trucks by 2007. "It's going to be really tough for diesel to meet those standards," said Gary Rossow, Freightliner's director of government and technical affairs. "It's also going to be tough for any fuel to meet those standards, including compressed natural gas. "The environmental standards are driving lots of re-thinking." Local governments should re-think fuel choices before they spend money on gas-powered fleets, said Holt, the driving force behind the county's new natural-gas fleet. Holt drove a CNG Crown Victoria to Eagle Point, Rogue River, Gold Hill and Phoenix to try to sell the concept to city officials. (Ashland already uses electric and natural gas vehicles.) Holt invited Medford City Councilman Skip Knight to ride to Phoenix in the "Crown Vic." He's trying to persuade Medford to consider alternative fuels when it purchases eight new vehicles costing $23,000 to $25,000 each this next year. "There are so many tax credits and grants that the natural gas vehicles don't cost any more than a gas-powered vehicle," Holt said. 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