22 ~ Friday, April 5, 1991 ~ North Shore News

Natural gas proving popular

WHEN TURMOIL in the Middle
East affects gasoline prices and
threatens the security of world oil
supplies, all-Canadian, economical
natural gas for vehicles becomes a
preferred transportation fuel
alternative in British Columbia.

Jack Touhey, manager, Natural
Gas for Vehicles at BC Gas,
reports that in the past six
months, sales of vehicle conver-
sions to natural gas in the pro-
vince have jumped 200 per cent —
in October alone, they rose by an
overwhelming 300 per cent.

“Ii’s no surprise that the de-
mand has increased so markedly
when you consider the lower
price, security of supply and en-
vironmental benefits of natural
gas versus vasoline,’’ says Touhey.

BC Gas is preparing the launch
of FuelMaker. ihe convenient res-
idential refuelling device that taps
into the gas lines of homes or
businesses and provides overnight
fill-up capability. This develop-
ment is expected to encourage
marked growth in vehicle conver-
sions to natural gas in the coming
year.

Energy is essential to our daily
ves — but our use of certain
energy forms, especially transpor-

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tation fuels, is producing ex-
cessively harmful pollutants in the
atmosphere.

The energy dilemma concerns
the obnoxious ovxides, namely
those of carbon, sulphur and
nitrogen. All are the consequence
of burning fossil fuels and are the
major causes of urban smog, acid
rain and global warming.

In the search for solutions to
the environmental problem, natu-
ral gas is gaining greater recogni-
tion as the cleanest burning fossil
fuel. The federal government’s
recently released Green Plan,
which proposes measures to move
to less carbon-intensive energy
sources, highlights natural gas as
having a major role to play in

reducing greenhouse gases and
improving urban air quality.
Natural gas is the best fossil

fuel option to reduce atmospheric
pollutants:

* Natural gas venicles emit 40
per cent less carbon monoxide
than gasoline-powered  velticles.
Natural gas also emits significant-
ly fewer hydrocarbons, the prime
components of urban smog.

* Unlike the combustion of
both coal for electrical power
generation and cheaper grades of

4 CYL.

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fuel ofl, natural gas combustion
produces virtually no sulphur
dioxide ~~ the culprit behind acid
rain.

°For stationary power genera-
tion, natural gas can reduce car-
bon dioxide emissions -- the ma-
jor cause of global warming — by
50 per cent per unit of energy
compared to coal and by 35 per
cent over fuel of.

The global search for energy
alternatives is a timely concern,
but nowhere is the focus on alter-
native fuels more acute than here
in Canada, where per capita
energy consumption is the highest
in the world.

The Canadian Gas Association,
a 550-member trade organization
of gas producers, brokers,
transmission, distribution and
manufacturing companies, is
committed to the development of
the natural gas industry, as more
and more Canadian homeowners,
businesses and industries discover
the benefits of this viable fuel op-
tion,

Industry statistics from the
CGA show that 1989 exports of
natural gas to the United States

See Natural page 23

6 CYL. 8 CYL.

NEWS photo Cindy Goodman
AN INCREASING number of drivers are turning to natural gas as
a clean-burning, inexpensive fuel option. Phil Wheatley of
Lomax Natural Gas Fuel Conversions is president of the new
local business that converts cars to natural gas vehicles.

Y.. may have seen Eco-Heroes honored
in the EcoUpdate feature that runs every se-
cond Wednesday. You can nominate your
favorite Eco-Hero, the person who has taken
that first small, but important, step to making
a difference in the world around us.

The North Shore News thinks it’s impertant
to recognize the Eco-Heroes in our communi-
ty. if you know an Eco-Hero, please submit
his or her name to this newspaper and your
nominee will have a chance to win an Eco-
Hero button and a Going Green on the Nerth
Shore coffee mug.

Submissions should be sent to Eco-Hero,
North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North
Vancouver, V7M 2H4. Nominations can also
be telephoned to Peggy Trendell-Whittaker.
985-2131, from Monday to Thursday.

SHE VOICE OF NOFA AWD WEST VANCOUVER

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