Alternative Fuel Vehicle for the China Market
“Developed nations urged to help in technology
transfer to China”
Ma Kai, Minister of the National Development & Reform
Commission (NDRC)
Overview
- PRC, Inc. has signed a MOU with Peter Pfeifer et al., a Research
and Development Company in Columbia, Missouri, called ALL-CRAFT
(Alliance for
Collaborative Research in Alternative Fuel Technology),
to market its alternative bio-fuel technology to China and other
Asian countries.
- Our immediate goal is to replace cylindrical compressed natural
gas (CNG) tanks (compression at 3600 psi [pounds per square inch])
in current Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) by a flat tank, with storage
for natural gas (NG) in adsorbed form (ANG [adsorbed natural
gas] at a compression of 500 psi), for the NG fuel tank of the
future.
- NG vehicles in general produce no ozone or smog, and less greenhouse
gases. The NG is an abundant domestic fuel (available in natural
reservoirs), and can also be produced from renewable sources
in significant amounts and on a sustainable basis, and is cheaper
than gasoline or diesel at the pump.
- The flat tank design, made possible by the low pressure of
the ANG tank, can be mounted under the floor or in other unused
spaces of a vehicle, making such NG fueled vehicles broadly more
attractive than gasoline or diesel run vehicles. As such, ANG-powered
vehicles appear to be the preferred mode of transportation for
the next generation of cleaner vehicles.
- The long-term goal is to develop efficient, low-pressure, high-capacity
storage technologies for natural gas (methane) as alternative
fuel for future transportation (i.e., hydrogen-run vehicles).
The ANG technology developed by Pfeifer et al., meets the target
of 180 volumes of methane per 1 volume of tank set forth by the
U.S. Department of Energy in 2000.
