Monthly Archives: November 2008

CNG Incentive Adds Up, Quiet Too.

November 30, 2008 – 2:00 pm

New Zealand, Hamilton

A local government incentive for bus operators to use CNG over diesel, has seen prospects for Hamilton’s fleet of 25 CNG buses boosted. In a Gas Association New Zealand National Gas Review item, Go Bus Commercial Director, Craig Worth, said using CNG was a “numbers decision”. “The Regional Council, through Hamilton City Council, identified significant benefits from having gas-powered fleets for certain applications. Within the tendering process, Environment Waikato runs a small incentive for alternative fuel vehicles, which made our decision to run on CNG easy.” Worth went on to say, “Even the new technology low-emission diesel buses don’t compare to gas buses of the same standard.” The CNG fleet had another advantage for Go Bus to consider, Worth said. “The performance of the CNG buses mirrors that of diesel – but the most noticeable thing is the gas engines are extremely quiet. Taking off and gathering speed, the difference is quite significant.”

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Glendale Strengthens Its CNG Commitment With New Station

November 30, 2008 – 2:00 pm

USA, Seal Beach, CA

The City of Glendale, California has awarded a 10-year contract to Clean Energy Fuels Corp. to build, operate and maintain a new large-scale public access compressed natural gas (CNG) station to support the City’s CNG vehicle fleets and serve surrounding communities. Once the City completes its recently announced program to replace all of its diesel-powered fleet vehicles with CNG vehicles over the next five years, it is anticipated that the CNG station will dispense more than 800,000 gallons of fuel annually.


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Ontario Announces Funding for Green Commercial Vehicle Program

November 27, 2008 – 1:11 pm

Canada, Ontario

A four year, $15 million program that will provide grant funding for lower greenhouse gas emitting Class 3-7 commercial vehicles has been announced by the Province of Ontario. The application process is expected to open at the end of this month. Private fleets will be eligible for funding of up to one-third of the capital premium of lower emission natural gas or hybrid vehicles to a maximum of $15,000 per vehicle. The availability of funding over several years is expected to kick-start the market for natural gas refuse trucks in Ontario. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario. The Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance (CNGVA) reports that he funding initiative falls within the Province’s Go Green Ontario climate change plan that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% below 1990 levels by 2020.


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Dar Es Salaam Closes on Conversion Date To Natural Gas

November 26, 2008 – 11:07 pm

Tanzania, Dar es Salaam

Tanzania is preparing to start using locally sourced natural gas in vehicles from next year. According to a report in the East African, Yona Killagane, managing director of the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation, said his company together with PanAfrican Energy Tanzania Ltd has embarked on a project to develop the natural gas refuelling infrastructure (see NGV Global article). Already, three vehicles belonging to the corporation and the energy firm have been converted to use natural gas as well as petrol or diesel. “In early 2009, Dar es Salaam will see the commissioning of its first compressed natural gas (CNG) refuelling stations at Ubungo and the TPDC compound in Mikocheni area,” he said.

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Clean Energy Opens First Large-Scale California LNG Production Plant

November 23, 2008 – 2:00 pm

USA, Seal Beach, CA 

Deliveries are under way from Energy Fuels Corp’s new California LNG Plant at Boron, California, to Clean Energy’s new LNG port truck fueling station in Carson, California. Reportedly the largest LNG (liquefied natural gas) production plant in the Southwest and the first large-scale plant in California, it has been built to produce up to 160,000 gallons per day of LNG, upsizing to 240,000 gallons per day as demand increases.  The facility includes a 1.8-million-gallon LNG storage tank as an important regional supply source and to provide reserves for unanticipated demand.


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TATA to Launch Xenon Super CNG at Thai Motor Expo

November 23, 2008 – 2:00 pm | Thailand, Bangkok
Tata's Xenon Super CNG pickup ready for launch

Tata's Xenon Super CNG pickup ready for launch

Tata Motors (Thailand) is launching the Xenon Super CNG pickup truck at the forthcoming Bangkok International Motor Expo 2008, starting November 29. The TATA Xenon Super CNG is Thailand’s first pickup truck with a factory-installed 100-per cent CNG system. Target customers for Xenon Super CNG are both individual customers who use pickup vehicles for transporting goods on fixed routes, and also big companies which have very high fuel expenses. It can help them cut their operating costs by up to 30 to 50 per cent.
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Re-Energized US NGV Technology Forum Convenes to Assess Industry Needs

November 20, 2008 – 2:00 pm | USA

Approximately 90 equipment and services providers and California and federal energy department officials participated in a NGV Technology Forum (NGVTF) in Downey CA last week to assess technology challenges and opportunities and provide input concerning future R&D program investments. This was the first meeting of the reconstituted NGVTF, which is funded by US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with potential co-funding from the California Energy Commission (CEC).

NGVTF’s mission is to identify and prioritize vehicle-, engine- and station-technology advancement projects for potential co-funding by DOE, CEC, other states’ energy R&D programs and industry partners. DOE’s funding of the Clean Vehicle Education Foundation (CVEF) coordination of NGVTF activities are in addition to funding for NGV codes and standards activities, but current DOE budgets do not include any NGV RDD&D funds.


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NaturalDrive Obtains EPA Certification for CNG Impala Retrofit

November 20, 2008 – 2:00 pm

USA, Phoenix

NaturalDrive Partners, LLC has obtained EPA certification for its dedicated compressed natural gas (CNG) retrofit of 2008 Chevrolet Impala sedans powered by 3.5 liter and 3.9 liter flex-fuel engines in models LS, LT, LTZ, as well as law enforcement packages 9C1 and 9C3. NaturalDrive’s retrofit package incorporates 10.4 gasoline gallon-equivalents of CNG storage at 3600 psi, providing an estimated range of 220 to 300 miles, while leaving ample trunk space for taxi, municipal and consumer applications.


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Biomethane Injection Gets French Nod of Approval

November 19, 2008 – 2:39 pm | France

Biomethane coming to the French natural gas network

Findings of a study of health and environmental risks from the injection of biomethane fuel into the natural gas distribution network, requested from the French Agency for Health and Safety in the Environment and Workplace (AFSSET) in September 2006, have now been released. As was indicated by BioGasMax in Dec 2007 (see NGV Global article), its conclusions are “unequivocally favourable when biogas is produced from methanisation of waste or from storage of non-dangerous waste.” Furthermore, AFSSET states (translated), “The agency considers that there is no specific health risk associated with the injection into the network of certain types of cleaned biogas, compared to natural gas.”
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China Makes Inroads Into Venezuela NGV Market

November 19, 2008 – 2:00 pm

Caracas, VenezuelaGreat Wall's bi-fuel Hover CUV

Chinese company Great Wall of Venezuela, has announced completion of its first two bi-fuel model conversions to natural gas, for the Pick Up Deer and Hover CUV. The announcement was made by Jesus Arreaza, Operations Manager of Great Wall of Venezuela, who asserted that, “in compliance with requirements laid down by the Joint Resolution of the Program of Incentives for the Use of Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) in its Article 3, as of September 12, 2007, two of its models have the certificates issued by the Division of Natural Gas Vehicle Conversion and Management of Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).


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Toyota Launches CNG Concept Camry

November 19, 2008 – 2:00 pm

USA, Los AngelesToyota's concept Camry Hybrid 2009

Recognizing there is a strong, reliable domestic supply of compressed natural gas (CNG), Toyota has launched a new concept vehicle – the CNG Camry Hybrid – at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week. To convert a stock Camry Hybrid to a CNG vehicle, the gasoline fuel system was replaced with a CNG system that includes a pair of CNG tanks installed in the spare-tire well of the vehicle’s trunk. Because it now lacks a spare tire, the CNG Camry Hybrid rolls on runflat tires.

With the proposed CNG equivalent of 8 gallons of gasoline in its tanks, the estimated range of the CNG Camry Hybrid is more than 250 miles. Toyota has reiterated that natural gas also produces lower particulate emissions and lower levels of nitrous oxide (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and non-methane organic gasses (NMOG) when compared with gasoline, and in so doing greatly reduces potential wear and tear on an engine fueled by it.


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Florida’s First Green Energy Station includes CNG Option

November 19, 2008 – 2:00 pm

USA, Destiny

Destiny, America’s first eco-sustainable city has teamed up with Mid-State Energy, Inc. to announce the location of its first green E-station in Florida, in southern Osceola County. The 6,000-square-foot energy refueling station will contain traditional and renewable fuels — currently, the project is in the final design stages that call for five gasoline and alternative fuel stations and six diesel dispensers. The final fuel mix is still in development, but will most likely include compressed natural gas as one option.

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CNG Conex on Next Month in Pakistan

November 19, 2008 – 11:04 am

5th CNG Conference & Exhibition on Dec. 2-3 2008 at Lahore, Pakistan

The 5th International Conference and Exhibition on CNG (CNG Conex-2008) will be held on December 2-3 2008 at the Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore, Pakistan. This event is organised by Pakistan’s National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH), and is supported by the Pakistan CNG Dealers Association, CNG Station Owners Association and the Task Force for Environment Punjab. The organisers are expecting over 30 national and multinational exhibitors including oil marketing companies, equipment manufacturers, distributors and producers of local CNG products. Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif is to inaugurate the event while the Federal Minister for Environment, Chairman Task Force for Environment Punjab Dr. Awais Farooqi, Secretary Petroleum & Natural Resources,  and the Director-General of the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP) Hilal A. Raza, and representatives of D.G. Gas, OGRA & others will present at the event. See the NFEH website for more information.


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REMINDER – Call for Abstracts – NGV India 2009

November 19, 2008 – 10:42 am

Submission deadline – December 19 2008.

Organisers of next year’s NGV India Conference and Exhibition are inviting submissions from speakers wishing to present at the event in New Delhi, India from March 24-26, 2009. The event is the first of its type in India and has been themed, Sustainable Transport in a Prospering Marketplace, a reference to India’s growing demand for motor vehicles and the rapidly expanding natural gas network, expected to reach more than 220 cities by 2012. The conference will cover South Asia in general and include a range of material over the three day program, with speakers invited to present papers on industry safety, sustainable industry growth, air quality and greenhouse benefits, CNG ‘alternatives’ (e.g. LNG, biomethane, ANG, hydrogen blends, etc),OEM participation, gas supply and gas quality, research and innovations, commercial and safety benefits of radio frequency identification tags (RFID) and more. Final papers should be 15-30 minutes in length and must contain original material for consideration. Submissions of abstracts should be no more than a page in length, and must include a short bio of the author/presenter. Speakers accepted will be entitled to a discounted registration fee for the event (details TBA). Abstracts should be submitted via email before December 19 2008.


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DIY Conversions – Saving Money But Costing Lives

November 19, 2008 – 5:41 am

The real cost of do-it-yourself compressed natural gas (CNG) conversions has hit home this month with two serious incidents costing one life and narrowly avoiding killing several more. One man died in Melaka, Malaysia earlier this month while refuelling a van which had been reportedly fitted with an LPG cooking cylinder instead of properly certified high-pressure CNG cylinders. Three others were seriously injured in the incident. Meanwhile in Salt Lake City, USA, 4 children were hospitalized after natural gas fumes leaked into their vehicle during refuelling, due to leaks in the high pressure piping and fittings, reportedly the result of a home conversion to CNG.


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