Natural gas vehicle Natural gas vehicle A natural gas vehicle (NGV) is an alternative fuel vehicle that uses compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG). Natural gas vehicles should not be confused with vehicles powered by LPG (mainly propane), which is a fuel with a fundamentally different composition. In a natural gas powered vehicle, energy is released by combustion of essentially Methane gas () fuel with Oxygen () from the air to carbon dioxide () and water vapor () in an internal combustion engine. Methane is the cleanest burning hydrocarbon and many contaminants present in natural gas are removed at source.
Natural gas and some off-grid engine-generators use natural gas. Particularly high efficiencies can be achieved through combining gas turbines with a steam turbine in combined cycle mode. Natural gas burns more cleanly than other fuels, such as oil and coal. Because burning natural gas produces both water and carbon dioxide, it produces less carbon dioxide per unit of energy released than coal, which produces mostly carbon dioxide. Burning natural gas produces only about half the carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour (kWh) that coal does. For transportation, burning natural gas produces about 30% less carbon dioxide than burning petroleum. The US Energy Information Administration