Argentina - credit where credit is due

'bout time argentina got a little positive recognition...

U.S. drivers look to what's in Argentina's tank: natural gas

More vehicles run on natural gas in Argentina than anywhere else in the world, and that success is attracting a burst of interest from the U.S., where a big push is under way to convert buses, taxis and cars to natural gas.

Representatives of American companies are flocking to Argentina to buy natural-gas compressors, conversion kits and fuel tanks to sell in the U.S., said Alessandro Carlo, president of Tomasetto Achille, a major Argentine maker of these products, based in Buenos Aires.

[...]

Argentina's success began with a decision by the government in the early 1980s to keep natural-gas prices artificially low — something the U.S. is unlikely to try.

The Argentine government also made it easier for service stations to install the equipment needed to fuel vehicles and created a special program for several hundred taxis in Buenos Aires to convert to natural gas.

The U.S. seems to be moving in this direction, albeit slowly. Bills in Congress would create incentives to encourage consumers to buy more natural gas-driven cars, for service-station owners to install natural-gas pumps and for manufacturers to build more natural-gas cars.

[...]

Today, about 1.7 million vehicles run on natural gas in Argentina, or about 15 percent of all Argentine vehicles.

By contrast, less than 1 percent of vehicles in the U.S. run on natural gas.

i observed the widespread use of cng (gnc as it's called in spanish) in argentina when i first visited there in 2004... currently, regular gas is selling for roughly $2.89AR (that's 2 pesos, 89 centavos) per liter (3.89 liters = 1 U.S. gallon) while gnc is selling for 89 centavos per liter, no small saving... you can also go online in argentina, Ruta 0, a site which will not only show you the exact routes to take when traveling from point to point but will also display the routes best taken if you're fueled by gasoline, diesel or gnc, will show the location of the stations, compute the cost of the fuel you use for the distance you will be driving, AND show any applicable tolls...

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