icle necessity can
rented economically

“E00 INFO ©

: VAST YEAR, Pasa read-

evs may recall that I put my

Money where my mouth was -
‘or my practice where my

‘pen was — and parked my
car for eight months.

: My trusty Honda is now gone
for good, but it’s been replaced

ith a family caravan that’s twice
its size; This environmental colum-
nist is now a member of a ‘two-cara--
van family, «| ;

- [know, I know, I was disgusted —

with myself, too. But my signifi-
cant other, who read this year’s
LemonAid guide to car perfor-
mance, has assured me that fuel
efficiency in the caravans matches
that found in nos of the compact «
Cars... .
- "But to make ourselves feel bet-
ler, we bought a year-old model
(thereby practising the second of
the 3 Rs —.Reduce, Reuse,
Recycle), we use the van for fre-
quent carpooling, and — — drum roll, :

The final
>. remaining
‘ “193 models
” priced to clear
7 immediately

please — had it converted to natur-
al gas.

Natural gas, found in large
quantities in B.C., is the cleanest
burning of the fossil fuels, Its two
major byproducts are water vapor
and carbon dio» ide, and according
to Phil Wheatley, the technician
who did our conversion at Lomax,
its carbon dioxide output is about
30% less than that of gasoline.

Carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon
and nitrogen oxide emissions from
a natural gas vehicle (NGV) are a
fraction of those from a gasoline-
powered car.

The municipality of West
Vancouver has been phasing in
NGVs since 1984, and now has a
fleet of about 56 vehicles, including
the district’s police cruisers.

When West Van made the com-
mitment to natural gas in 1984, the
start-up cost was $208,000. This
amount was recovered in the first
six years of running NGVs, and the
project now tums a profit.

If you drive 30,000 km/year,
your vehicle conversion will pay
for itself in about 24 years. After
that, your fuel savings are just
money in your pocket (natural gas
generally costs less than half the
price of gasoline).

Added to those savings are the
ones you reap at tune-up time,
Spark plugs rarely need changing
and other engine components last
much longer because the fuel is so
clean-burning.

. Most of the major automakers
are coming out with natural gas
vehicles this year, but those of us
faced with retrofitting are helped
out with a government grant.
= Total cost for a conversion is
about $3,200 (that's for having two
tanks installed), and you'll get

- $1,000 back.

Installers leave the factory gaso-

with exclusive

ete: -Action
upport System

AT

oss

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line system intact, so the vehicle is ~

left with a “bi-fuel” system. You
can switch from gasoline to natural
gas and back with the simple Nick
of a button on the dash, without
even stopping the car.

The West Van police cars are
even equipped to automatically
switch to gasoline in an emergency
situation, to maximize engine
power.

The bi-fuel system is important,
because you'll only get about 150
to 160 kilometres on two tanks of
natural gas (which, together, cost
about $6 to fill).

That, combined with the relative
searcity of natural gas fuelling sta-
tions, would make it risky to run on
natural gas alone. (Some vehicles,
with larger tanks or three tanks, can
get up to 320 km before refuelling.)

There are two stations on the

See FuelMaker page 17

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