Before this mixture can be effectively transmitted in pipelines and used at the point of distribution, the heavy hydrocarbon gases, butane and propane, are extracted as liquids by processes including cooling. Methane is an ideal fuel product that we will probably be seeing much more of in the future. We may even be running our cars on it by the end of the century. A recent editorial in Science magazine points out several advantages to using methane as a fuel. Lubricating oil is not diluted with it as it is with gasoline, and engine wear is reduced correspondingly.
Exhaust gases are relatively non-polluting.
There would be other factors that must be taken into account. Because methane must be stored under high pressure, the steel tank necessary to contain it would add about ten percent to the weight of a car. Even though methane must be kept at a pressure of 160 to 200 atmospheres, this potential bomb would probably pose less of a threat during a collision than a ruptured gasoline tank. The cost of gasoline per unit of energy is now about twice that of methane.