Remember the days when you could fill your gas tank for about $20?

Yeah, neither do we.

But drivers in Utah took a step back in time last week, after a news report revealed they are probably getting the best deal in the U.S. on gas.

Drivers were lining the streets to fill their gas tanks for 87 cents a gallon. You can't even buy a Snickers for that these days.

So, to what do the Utahians (Utahnites?) owe their good fortune?

The gas going into their vehicles is natural gas.

Some of you might remember this alternative fuel was big on the scene about 20 years ago. Auto makers even manufactured vehicles that were designed to run on natural gas.

Eventually, the idea of using that alternative fuel, and the vehicles, faded. Natural gas was cheap then, but there was little financial incentive to use it. Fuel use gravitated more toward the crude oil possessed by the folks in a few certain Middle Eastern countries.

And the rest, you could say, is history.

There is some good news, though, according to Leo Thomason, Executive Director of the Natural Gas Vehicle Institute in Las Vegas, Nev. Natural gas as a means to power our vehicles could be making a comeback in the U.S., and big time.

"There's no reason why (the U.S.) shouldn't be using natural gas," Thomason said. "It's domestic, abundant, and it is the cleanest (burning) of the available fuels on the market today."

Loyal readers might remember a few months ago when we started a discussion on the benefits of ethanol and how it burns. Natural gas is similar to ethanol in the way that it burns more cleanly than gasoline, but it also burns quicker because it isn't as "energy-dense," Thomason said.

So it's a clean alternative, it's dirt cheap, and it's in our proverbial backyard. What could possibly be the downside?

Uh, it's gas. When we think of natural gas, the image that comes to mind is BOOM! followed by burning debris.

Secondly, most cars on America's roads are not made to burn natural gas anymore. Honda is the only company manufacturing cars that run on dedicated natural gas, the Civic GX. The shortage of available cars and the increase of compressed gas is leading people to spend thousands to convert their car, truck or van so it can use natural gas, but the method of conversion isn't always legal.

"You can't just buy a truck and then tell the mechanic, 'OK, convert this for me,'" Thomason said. "It would be illegal. The conversion system has to fit a certain engine family; it won't work with just any vehicle."

Drivers would have to go to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Web site to see what conversion system is available for the vehicle they want to buy, if one exists (sorry, fellow Jeep drivers, we're out of the running. You're in luck if you have a Ford or General Motors car). And that brings us to our next point: Uncle Sam has to say it's OK for you to even have such a vehicle on the road.

Right now, Thomason said, there are only three companies in this country that develop EPA-approved natural gas conversion systems. They are in North Carolina, Texas and California.

If EPA does catch someone doing conversions illegally, it's $10,000 per vehicle.

And as for the BOOM! aspect, Thomason said the chances of a car that runs on natural gas spontaneously combusting, especially if you have the financial means to use an apparatus to fill the tank at home, are "highly irregular."

"Can it happen? Sure," he said. "But in the 25 years I've been in this business, I have never heard of a car (powered by natural gas) just combusting. It's highly unlikely."

Thomason believes the use of natural gas in vehicles is "absolutely" the future of vehicle energy.

"Do I think this is our future? Yes. Do I believe it'll happen overnight? No," he said. "But I will say this: It's gaining in popularity again and I think we'll start hearing more about it."

Follow Meghan Malloy's commuter blog and track the cheapest gasoline prices in town daily at

www.kjonline.com.