Texas Natural Gas Act of 2013
History
Oil was abundantly available to the U.S. until the 1970s when we became 30 percent dependent on foreign oil. In the U.S. today we import 50% of our oil consumption at a cost of $750,000/minute. In Texas, over the last 30 years, we have reduced our known oil reserves in half but doubled our natural gas reserves. Going into the future, natural gas is our best option to fuel transportation over the next 25+ years until other technologies are available.
Problem
With the Clean Air Act of 1994, the EPA ruled that no tampering can be done to engines without expensive emissions testing for each year, make, and model. This is the case even though a conversion from gasoline or diesel to natural gas is going to be cleaner. The cost to certify kits for new cars is approximately $250,000 for each engine run for make and model of car. This cost is passed on to the consumer when they buy that kit. This has severely limited the number vehicles that can be converted and has made engine conversion kits expensive and inaccessible for most Texans to convert to natural gas. Of the 49 million new cars sold in the U.S. in the last 6 years, 98% of them are illegal to convert even though there are non-certified kits from around the world available for almost all models. Currently, no kits have been EPA certified for foreign made vehicles. Internationally, there are millions of cars being converted to natural gas (3,000,000+ in Pakistan, 2,000,000 in Brazil and Argentina), and we have only converted 120,000 in the U.S.
The Act
Let it be known that Texas would like to clean up our air by using our own abundant and domestically produced natural gas as a transportation fuel. In order for anyone to legally convert a vehicle to natural gas, they must follow these steps:
1. For non-attainment areas, prior to conversion, an emissions test must be performed to get a baseline for the vehicle.
2. The conversion company must be licensed by the Texas Railroad Commission to do CNG conversions.
3. For non-attainment areas, After conversion, an emissions test must be performed and compared to the pre-conversion test. As long as the level of emissions is as good or better, you may continue to step 4.
4. The vehicle must be taken to a CSA certified inspector to check to see if the vehicle is safe to drive for the owner of the vehicle.
If all four steps are done, this would allow the conversion to become legal.
Summary
In order to use our own natural resources, we give the residents of Texas permission to convert all their vehicles to natural gas in a way that is monitored and safe. Not only will we continue to clean up our air but we will stimulate our economy with thousands of jobs and keep our financial resources in Texas without requiring State rebates to encourage conversions. Because the kits are not burdened with EPA certification costs and all available kits from around world are now legal to use, conversions will be less expensive and more Texans will convert their vehicles.
History
Oil was abundantly available to the U.S. until the 1970s when we became 30 percent dependent on foreign oil. In the U.S. today we import 50% of our oil consumption at a cost of $750,000/minute. In Texas, over the last 30 years, we have reduced our known oil reserves in half but doubled our natural gas reserves. Going into the future, natural gas is our best option to fuel transportation over the next 25+ years until other technologies are available.
Problem
With the Clean Air Act of 1994, the EPA ruled that no tampering can be done to engines without expensive emissions testing for each year, make, and model. This is the case even though a conversion from gasoline or diesel to natural gas is going to be cleaner. The cost to certify kits for new cars is approximately $250,000 for each engine run for make and model of car. This cost is passed on to the consumer when they buy that kit. This has severely limited the number vehicles that can be converted and has made engine conversion kits expensive and inaccessible for most Texans to convert to natural gas. Of the 49 million new cars sold in the U.S. in the last 6 years, 98% of them are illegal to convert even though there are non-certified kits from around the world available for almost all models. Currently, no kits have been EPA certified for foreign made vehicles. Internationally, there are millions of cars being converted to natural gas (3,000,000+ in Pakistan, 2,000,000 in Brazil and Argentina), and we have only converted 120,000 in the U.S.
The Act
Let it be known that Texas would like to clean up our air by using our own abundant and domestically produced natural gas as a transportation fuel. In order for anyone to legally convert a vehicle to natural gas, they must follow these steps:
1. For non-attainment areas, prior to conversion, an emissions test must be performed to get a baseline for the vehicle.
2. The conversion company must be licensed by the Texas Railroad Commission to do CNG conversions.
3. For non-attainment areas, After conversion, an emissions test must be performed and compared to the pre-conversion test. As long as the level of emissions is as good or better, you may continue to step 4.
4. The vehicle must be taken to a CSA certified inspector to check to see if the vehicle is safe to drive for the owner of the vehicle.
If all four steps are done, this would allow the conversion to become legal.
Summary
In order to use our own natural resources, we give the residents of Texas permission to convert all their vehicles to natural gas in a way that is monitored and safe. Not only will we continue to clean up our air but we will stimulate our economy with thousands of jobs and keep our financial resources in Texas without requiring State rebates to encourage conversions. Because the kits are not burdened with EPA certification costs and all available kits from around world are now legal to use, conversions will be less expensive and more Texans will convert their vehicles.
Download the file below to see the auto sales statistics for 2005-2010. The highlighted numbers have an EPA certified system available for certain engines.
autosales_2005-2010_with_totals.pdf | |
File Size: | 206 kb |
File Type: |