The City Hall CNG filling station in Seoul
Seoul continues to strengthen its CNG refueling capacity, with plans to build four new natural gas stations for buses. The development will enable the city to further increase its fleet of environmentally friendly CNG buses, currently numbering around 7,600. There are also 1089 shuttle buses and 393 garbage trucks fueled by CNG, according to Mr Seung Ki Kim, International Cooperation Manager for the Korea Association for Natural Gas Vehicles.
Although no official details are to hand it is anticipated that the new bus stations will have capacity to refuel around 250 buses per day.
Toward the end of last century the Ministry of Environment assessed Seoul’s deteriorating air conditions, which led to changes to the Clean Air Conservation Act. It was determined at that time to replace buses with the most frequent circulation within the city limits, with low-emission CNG buses, which Korea has been systematically carrying out since 2000.
Seoul overcame early safety concerns of residents when considering placement of CNG filling stations, by building one in the middle of the city, at city hall, complete with coffee shop on top, explained Kim.
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