LOS ANGELES – One of the most viable alternative fuels could be compressed natural gas (CNG) because it’s cleaner than gasoline or diesel, the fuel costs about 33-percent less than gasoline, and most natural gas is produced in the United States, which helps reduce dependency on foreign oil, according to the Los Angeles Times. However, there aren’t many publicly available CNG filling stations outside of California, which has about 100 such locations, including 60 within 100 miles of downtown Los Angeles. Many of them, however, require a special key card for admittance. And it appears that the number of models available to everyday drivers is dropping. For a while it appeared that automakers were going to start jumping on the bandwagon. In 2004, there were nine models available from General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and Honda Motor Co.: three full-size pickup trucks, two compact cars, three vans, and a full-size sedan. But all except Honda have dropped CNG vehicles from their lineups. The manufacturers blame the dearth of publicly available stations, the lack of public knowledge about natural gas vehicles, and — until the past few years — the relatively low cost of oil and gasoline, according to the Los Angeles Times. The lone 2007-model CNG passenger vehicle marketed by a major automaker is Honda’s Civic GX, which is sold only in California and New York and carries a price tag of $25,185. That compares with $22,600 for the base Civic hybrid and $15,400 for the base DX gasoline model. But the natural gas Civic qualifies for a $4,000 federal tax credit, versus $2,100 for the hybrid model. Also, Honda dealers sell or lease a home natural gas fuel maker with the GX. And after a $2,000 South Coast Air Quality Management District subsidy and a $1,000 federal tax credit, the $3,500 model that installs in the owner’s garage ends up costing $500. The device, called Phill, and made by FuelMaker Corp. of Toronto, is capable of compressing enough natural gas each day to fill the GX’s 8-gallon tank. CNG fuel costs about $2 a gallon at a public station but runs about $1.20 a gallon when produced with the home fuel maker.