Brakes on Fumes : City, County Officials Test-Driving Natural-Gas Vehicles

It looks like a Buick. It rides like a Buick. And, if not for the two huge compressed natural gas cylinders that virtually fill the trunk, it might just pass for a Buick.

The sign on the front door gives it away: “Natural Gas Vehicle--For Cleaner Air.”

On Wednesday, to demonstrate the effectiveness of natural gas as an environmentally safe fuel alternative, seven city and county officials got behind the wheels of specially-equipped “NGV” 1990 Buick Le Sabres. For six months, San Diego City Councilman Ron Roberts, County Supervisor Brian Bilbray and five others will test-drive the natural gas-powered vehicles, spewing 90% fewer carbon monoxides, 50% fewer ozone-forming pollutants and 33% fewer nitrogen oxides than gasoline-powered cars.

What’s more, they’ll do it for about half the price: One therm of natural gas, which provides roughly the same number of miles as a gallon of gas, is only 69 cents.

Sound too good to be true? In fact, the technology is available to retrofit traditional engines (San Diego Gas & Electric Co., the sponsor of the six-month demonstration program, spent $2,300 to convert each Buick to natural-gas power). About 500,000 NGVs are being operated today in Canada, Italy, New Zealand, the Soviet Union and the United States. And some local businesses and transit authorities have already embraced natural gas as an affordable alternative.

Next spring, seven “NGV” San Diego Transit buses are scheduled to come on line, thanks to funding from the Federal Urban Transit Authority, and North County Transit is in line for seven more, according to Howard D. Levin, SDG&E;’s new products manager.

The difficulty comes when it’s time for a fill-up: A natural gas filling station is hard to find. A special gas station near the San Diego Convention Center will provide fuel for the test cars, which can go about 200 miles before refueling--and, if they run out of natural gas, the drivers can flip a switch to run on gasoline.

But, if SDG&E; has its way, it will soon be allowed to install pumps at local businesses that wish to fuel their fleets with natural gas. On Monday, SDG&E; submitted an application to the Public Utilities Commission seeking the financing authority to begin selling natural gas for this purpose.

According to R.J. Sommerville, the county’s air pollution control officer and another NGV Buick test driver, such alternatives to gasoline could soon be required by law.

Congress is now considering federal legislation that would require a percentage of vehicles to be run on alternate fuels. And the California Air Resources Board soon will consider a proposal that would require that, beginning in 1994, as many as 10% of the cars sold in the state meet an emissions standard nearly 70% stricter than existing ones.

“All of those are moving forward, and most of them will affect San Diego,” said Sommerville, who said a vast majority of San Diego’s air pollution comes from automobile emissions. Sommerville, who has driven natural gas-powered vehicles, described their performance in one word: “Great.”

The only problem Supervisor Bilbray could see with his new Buick was the limited trunk space. An avid surfer, Bilbray said he doubts that the cylinders of gas would leave room for his board.

Councilman Roberts was unfazed. “They told me I wouldn’t be able to fit more than one set of golf clubs in there at a time. But I haven’t golfed in two years, so that’s no problem,” he said.