The ninth Blue Corridor rally of natural gas fueled vehicles (NGVs) hit the road on May 24th in St. Petersburg, heading for the first round table discussion of the rally in Minsk. “Blue Corridor-2015”, organized by Gazprom Export and E.On, will seek to encourage and promote natural gas use in transportation along the route to Paris. The Minsk discussion is hosted by Gazprom Gas-Engine Fuel and Beltransgaz.
By the beginning of June rally participants will arrive to Paris where within the frameworks of the World Gas Congress (WGC 2015) the crews will carry out discussion panels on perspectives of gas as a motor fuel. The vehicles will be showcased at the exhibition pavilion.
The total length of the round trip is 6800 km. The crews will drive along the roads of Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, France, Latvia and Lithuania.
“The interest in gas as a motor fuel is growing in many European countries. The history of ‘Blue Corridor’ rally proves that natural gas, in either compressed (CNG) or liquefied (LNG) form could be used in any mode of transport: from small city-cars to long-haul trucks; from port loaders to passenger ferries. This is cheap, environmentally-friendly and safe”, said Andre Schumann, the rally coordinator on behalf of E.On.
The price of CNG in Europe is approximately EUR 1 (USD 1.10) per 1 kg, whereas in Russia the same amount of gas costs 0.3 euro (USD 0.33). Petrol and diesel prices in Europe are at least 1.2 times higher than those of CNG. In such countries as Italy and Norway the price gap may be higher by 1.7-1.9 times. Moreover using the same amount of fuel, a natural gas driven car covers a longer distance than the one that uses petrol or diesel.
“Blue Corridor” rally was initially organized by Gazprom Group in 2008. Starting from 2010, when a number of European gas market participants joined the project, it has significantly expanded internationally.
(Source: Gazprom)
