DATS 24, the Belgian leader in CNG (compressed natural gas) and a pioneer of automated fueling stations and fuel supplier of Colruyt Group, has opened Belgium’s 100th Compressed Natural Gas filling station, which is also the company’s 60th under its own brand. Heverlee is the location, 30 minutes drive to the east of Brussels.
The refuelling network continues to expand with CNG now the third fuel behind petrol and diesel and by far the leading alternative fuel, DATS 24 reports. Most of the CNG stations are located in Flanders. In the meantime, you can fill up natural gas in more than 1 in 4 municipalities. Under the impetus of DATS 24, the gas federation and distribution system operators such as Ores Wallonia has started to catch up.
Belgium is aiming at 170 CNG stations by 2019. DATS 24 will open another 15 additional locations this year. Wetteren, Basecles, Eupen, Erpe-Mere, Ypres, Sint-Truiden, Hechtel-Eksel, Wommelgem and Knokke are still under planning. The network in Wallonia will also be expanded further. CNG is also on a steep rise in Europe, with ambitious expansion plans in countries such as France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.
Tie Roefs, Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability of Vlaams-Brabant and Mohamed Ridouani, Leuvens Alderman for Environment, together opened the Heverlee station.
According to Juan Vazquez, General Manager of sector federation Gas.be, natural gas can and will play a major role in the greening of mobility. “Driving on Earth’s axis is today the most worthy alternative to polluting diesel and petrol cars. They emit up to 31% less CO2 and reduce the emission of particulate matter and NOx by about 75%. And with the current development of the CNG network, it is gradually becoming feasible for everyone to switch to driving on natural gas. ”
“The air quality deteriorates sharply in Belgium, especially in Flanders,” says Raf Flebus, Business Unit Manager at DATS 24. “CNG cars offer the great advantage of being cheaper and can be used anywhere and make a substantial contribution to a healthier living environment.”
At the end of April 2018, according to the FPS Mobility, there were about 10,960 CNG vehicles on Belgian roads. Driving on natural gas is clearly on the rise. For example, the number of orders for CNG vehicles so far this years already exceeds the number of registrations in the whole of 2017.
Source: DATS 24 – a member of NGVA Europe and associate member of NGV Global
