Today’s natural gas vehicles store fuel at high pressure and require tanks that take up much of the trunk space.
Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia and the Midwest Research Institute and Kansas City have developed technology that could shrink the size of the tanks used to store natural gas in vehicles.
The technology stores natural gas at low pressure in carbon briquettes made from baked corn cobs.
Principal project leader Peter Pfeifer said:
It would be a unique opportunity to bring corn to the market for alternative fuels – corn kernels for ethanol production, and corncob for natural-gas tanks.
The technology is already being used in a pickup truck used regularly by the Kansas City Office of Environmental Quality.
The natural gas version of the Honda Civic is currently rated as the cleanest commercial vehicle in the country, so switching to a smaller tank could greatly increase its appeal.
Source: globeandmail
