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Abstract -- Acknowledgement -- Table of equivalents -- Calorific content and specific gravity of fuels -- 1. Summary and conclusions -- 2. Transport fuels from natural gas -- 3. Technical options -- 4. Economic considerations -- Annex 1: Model based on natural gas price of

This report examines the economics of using natural gas as an alternative fuel in transport vehicles including passenger cars, taxis, buses, and trucks. It compares the cost of using conventional fuels (gasoline and diesel) in these vehicles with that of retrofitting the vehicles and using natural gas-based fuels. These fuels include compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), methanol, and synthetic gasoline and diesel. The analysis includes various scenarios to establish break even points between these competing fuels under different assumptions. The study concludes that slow-fill (also known as " trickle fill " ) CNG is the most economic of the natural gas based fuels. The vehicles most suited for the economic use of these fuels are captive vehicle fleets with relatively high mileage and a restricted range of operation. However to make the transition economically viable, oil prices would have to increase significantly from the present level. These results are based on the economic factors considered. Environmental factors, could, however, mitigate these results.