Thailand, Bangkok
Thai Energy giant PTT, in collaboration with Thanachart Bank, has
revealed a new NGV One –Stop loan service “NGV Loan Service at
Installation Companies with Thanachart Bank,” offering customers loans
at 10 PTT certified installation companies (listed in
www.pttplc.com). The program will operate for a 5 month period
starting from November 1, 2006-March 31, 2007.
Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro has crossed the challenging 500,000 natural
gas vehicle (NGV) line at the end of August, marking the occasion with
a ceremony on October 26 hosted by the State Governor. The milestone
means that Rio is now home to 10% of the world’s NGV fleet with NGVs
accounting for 20% of Rio’s vehicle fleet.
Venezuela, Caracas
State owned energy company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A (Pdvsa) has
announced a program that could see almost 500 compressed natural gas
(CNG) stations operating in the country by the end of 2009. Director of
the NGV program for the company, Héctor Castillo is quoted by ABN as
saying Venezuela has reserves of 158 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
feet and that the company hopes to change the pattern of liquid fuel
consumption of heavy and light vehicles as well as government fleets.
Austria, Linz
Bus users in the
Austrian city of Linz will soon be travelling on buses powered by
biomethane. Linz AG is to replace its entire 86 bus fleet starting next
year, with 25 single chassis and 61 articulated buses powered by
compressed natural gas (CNG) generated from biogas sources. The move is
expected to lower CO2 emissions by 50% and NOx emissions 70%.
On October 4, renewable energy and hydrogen industry leaders
participated in the first event dedicated to showing how renewable
technologies will be able to produce enough hydrogen commercially for
the growing hydrogen economy. Over 140 industry leaders from over 30
states and four countries came to the National Hydrogen Association’s
Renewables to Hydrogen Forum in Albuquerque, NM to discuss real issues
regarding technology development, research, and commercialization
strategies.
USA, Washington DC
Last week, the IRS released a draft of the form that is used to
register for purposes of taking the tax credit for CNG and LNG. Form
637, “Application for Registration,” was released on Monday. It
should be finalized in 30 days if there are not significant comments on
it. If you intend to register to take the tax credit or have
customers that will be using this form, please review the draft and let
NGVAmerica know if you have any problems with the information the IRS
is requesting on this form.
USA, Las Vegas
Three hundred people from throughout the US participated in a webcast
earlier this week to learn about fuel, vehicle and emissions benefits
derived from using natural gas in transit fleets. The Alternative Fuel
Vehicle Institute (AFVI), on behalf of Clean Energy, presented a ninety
minute interactive session about the superior business case and
environmental advantages in choosing natural gas for transit fleets.
“Transit Operations: The Natural Gas Vehicle Connection” presented the
most recent information available on regulations, funding, and product
availability for transit fleet applications.
Australia, Queensland
Agricultural producers in Queensland, Australia, are to put banana
waste to good use, with plans under way for a pilot plant to produce
biomethane for use in tractors and other farm equipment. Project farmer
Graeme Bush says with an estimated 30 percent of crops going to waste,
farmers have been keen to put the waste to good use and he was looking
forward to seeing his vehicles operating on the fuel.
China, Hu Nan
Yu Yang City has become the second city in
China’s Hu Nan province to commence operations of compressed natural
gas (CNG) buses. A total of 11 CNG buses began operating on 3 different
lines in the city earlier this month. Chang Sha City was the first in
Hu Nan to operate CNG buses.
USA, Las Vegas
First webcast scheduled for October 24
The Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute (AFVI) has entered into a
partnership with fuels provider Clean Energy to expand efforts to
provide vital information to alternative fuel end users to help with
vehicle purchasing decisions. The move is in response to unprecedented
interest and rapid growth in the alternative fuels market and will kick
off with a webcast planned for October 24.
USA
Daimler Truck Unit Going Ahead with CNG, Cummins Westport’s L Gas Plus for the M2
Fleets and Fuels reports that DaimlerChrysler’s Freightliner has taken another step
closer to offering a natural gas-fueled version of its “Business Class”
M2 106 truck: the manufacturer’s product committee has approved the
project using an 8.9-liter L Gas Plus engine from Cummins Westport. 39
of the M2s are already on order for Pacific Gas & Electric though
these will be fitted with John Deere 6081 natural gas engines. More
details – Fleets and Fuels
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Smithtown vs. OPEC
The following OpEd article was written by Joanna D. Underwood and
printed in The New York Times on Sunday, July 30, 2006. Ms. Underwood,
an environmental consultant, is the founder and former president of
Inform, a nonprofit research organization.
Some may think Smithtown, a small city in New York state, an unlikely pioneer in a major technology
revolution. But last month, leaders of this community of 116,000 made a
historic decision: by January, all refuse trucks serving the town must
be powered by natural gas instead of diesel fuel. Smithtown is the
first community on the East Coast to do this, and, if we're lucky,
other cities will follow its lead.
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