NGV2012 Bologna a Successful Meeting Place

| Italy, Bologna

A Subaru Outback BoxerCNG at the Bologna event

Approximately 2,500 visitors took part in NGVA Europe’s NGV2012 Bologna Conference and Exhibition in Italy last week, including government, commercial and association representatives from 40 countries. Claudio Kohan, director of NGV Communications Group which organised the event, declared at the end: “We are really satisfied with the results of NGV2012 Bologna and extremely grateful to the companies that, despite the economic crisis, confirmed their participation, showing their all-new state-of-the-art technologies.” Read more »

Hungarian NGV Association Joins NGVA Europe

| Hungary, Budapest | Source: NGVA Europe

NGVA Europe EU Affairs Manager, Matthias Maedge visits Hungary driving a Fiat Punto Natural Power (Jan 2012)

The Hungarian Natural Gas Vehicle Association, known as MGKKE (Magyar Gázüzemű Közlekedés Klaszter Egyesület) is a cluster of companies dedicated to promoting the use of clean and environmentally friendly gas-powered vehicles, including natural gas, biomethane and hydrogen, through shared resources and collective lobbying. Formed in April 2011, the company has attracted membership interest from a range of stakeholders including major gas suppliers, OEMs and scientific institutions. NGVA Europe reports the Hungarian association has now joined its own ranks. Read more »

NGVA Europe 2012 Conference – Bologna

NGV2012 Bologna, June 19-21 in Bologna, Italy

NGVA Europe will hold its annual conference and exhibition, together with five workshops, in Bologna, Italy this year, in an event hosted by NGV System Italia (the Italian NGV Association) and organized by NGV Communications Group. The European marketplace has a huge growth potential where the market share of methane (CNG, LNG and biomethane) powered vehicles are projected to grow from 0.4%, where it stands today, to 5% in 2020; according to the current European vehicles fleet, 5% equates to 17,000,000 NGVs. Read more »

GasHighWay Reaches Out to 2050

| Europe

The GasHighWay Route to 2050 – 1 March 2012, Brussels, Belgium

“The GasHighWay route to 2050 – The alternative way for sustainable mobility today” is organised by the GasHighWay project and NGVA Europe and will take place on Thursday 1 March 2012 at the Diamant Conference Centre in Brussels, Belgium. The event will address the uptake of gaseous vehicle fuels, namely CNG and biomethane and especially the realisation of a comprehensive network of filling stations for these fuels spanning Europe from the north, Finland and Sweden, to the south, Italy – in other words: the GasHighWay. Read more »

NGV Developments Picking Up the Pace

| Europe | Source: Peter Boisen, founding Chairman of NGVA Europe

USA outpaces Europe with NG Powered HD truck volume of sales

New VW NGV models likely to stimulate other manufacturers in Europe

Peter Boisen, founding Chairman and now honorary Chairman with a permanent seat on the board of NGVA Europe, comments on the pace of change in the USA and the recent natural gas vehicle developments in Europe, particularly the impetus generated by Volkswagen. Read more »

NGVA Europe Comments on Grosch Report

NGVA Europe, the Natural & bio Gas Vehicle Association, has welcomed the recently published Grosch report, prepared by the Belgian MEP and TRAN Committee member in the European Parliament, Mathieu Grosch, which itself “welcomes the 2011 White Paper, but notes that major goals of the 2001 White Paper were reached either only in part or not at all.” Read more »

NGVA Europe Celebrates Milestones in Berlin

| Europe, Berlin

Industry members have gathered in Berlin this week for NGV 2011 Berlin, NGVA Europe’s 2nd Conference and Exhibition. Delegates and visitors attending the event celebrated with members of the association its three full years of operation. A three day workshop program was preceded by the association’s general meeting during which members heard of the achievements of the association over the past year and a summary of progress to date. The association has pulled impressive membership growth to date rising from 20 members in May 2008, when the association was first formed, to more than 130 today. Among the most recent recruits are Gazprom (Russia) and Volvo AB (Sweden) both of which take up Director’s entitlements on the Board of the association.

Read more »

NGVA Europe Opposes Proposed EC Energy Tax Revision

 | Source: NGVA Europe

A proposed European Commission Directive that would see motor fuel taxes calculated based on a split of CO2 and energy based components has drawn opposition from NGVA Europe, representing natural and bio gas vehicle (NGV) industry members in Europe. In a website bulletin, the association says the proposal “would have disastrous consequences for the NGV industry, including biogas being injected into the gas grid.” Citing a 400% tax increase for natural gas as a fuel, while more or less maintaining current tax levels for petrol and a slight increase for diesel, NGVA Europe says the proposal conflicts with the objectives of the Commission’s own White Paper on future transport, released just weeks earlier. The white paper proposes reduced dependence on oil, while NGVA Europe says the new fuel tax proposal would effectively incentivise it’s continued use and act as a disincentive to the use of lower carbon fuels such as natural gas and biomethane.

This article compiled using information from NGVA Europe.

(Este artículo también está disponible en Español)

More CNG Fuelling Stations Opening in Belgium

| Belgium

Halle's new CNG filling station - a DATS 24 and OrangeGas collaboration

CNG refuelling network expands with DATS 24 station program

Belgium has been a quiet corner of Europe when it comes to natural gas vehicles (NGVs) where there are currently less than 200 of all types of NGVs registered. That is about to change with energy supplier DATS 24 opening and about to open several new compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations, providing increased refuelling infrastructure in Belgium and links into Europe’s growing network of CNG stations. The station project is a collaboration effort between DATS 24 and OrangeGas, which specialises in building and operating natural gas and biogas filling stations. Read more »

LNG Blue Corridors the Right Solution for Europe

| Europe | Source: NGVA Europe

The recent revision of the European Commission’s Trans-European Energy Network (TEN-E) policy highlights the importance of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals to cover Europe’s future increasing demand for natural gas. NGVA Europe’s says this estimation coincides with it’s own focus to promote a European NG/biomethane supply chain for long distance road transport via LNG Blue Corridors, what it calls the “right solution” for a more economical road transport. The Commission report identifies various projects of re-gasification terminals across the EU, some are already under implementation, others are planned. Read more »

NGVA Europe Opens Brussels Office

| Europe

Matthias Maedge

Technical Manager also appointed.

To expand its role of promoting natural gas and biomethane in the transport sector, NGVA Europe has opened a new office in Brussels. The office is headed by Matthias Maedge who has been appointed EU Affairs and Marketing Manager of NGVA Europe. The initiative is expected to better coordinate the interests of the Association’s and industry members with the European political institutions. Read more »

EU Commission Defines Actions for Unlocking Potential Benefits from Improved Bio-waste Management

| Europe

On 18th May 2010 the European Commission released a Communication with reference COM(2010)235 final to the Council and the European Parliament on future steps in bio-waste management in the European Union (see below). The introductory statement defines the parameters: “In the EU between 118 and 138 million tonnes of bio-waste are produced every year, of which about 88 million tonnes is municipal waste. It is projected to increase on average by 10% by 2020. On the EU average 40% of bio-waste is still landfilled (up to 100% in some Member States). However, landfilling (1) invokes major environmental risks such as emissions of greenhouse gases and pollution of soil and groundwater and, (2) withdraws valuable resources (compost, energy) irrevocably from economic and natural cycles” (see art. 1, p. 2). Read more »

European Commission Issues Automotive Strategy Statement

| Europe

The European Commission (EC) has issued a communication, ref. COM(2010)186 final, to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee entitled A European strategy on clean and energy efficient vehicles. During the press conference to present  the Communication, Antonio Tajani, EC Vice-President and Commissioner in charge of Industry and Entrepreneurship, reportedly insisted on a broader and technologically neutral perspective of the Commission. “Certain member states are paying particular attention to electric vehicles, but there are alternatives as well, for example hydrogen cars, natural gas cars or biofuel cars”, he is reported to have said. “So let the citizens and the market decide”, the Commissioner added. NGVA Europe has provided commentary on the communication and relevant links to documentation, available here.

New NGV Statistics for Europe

| Europe
NGVA Europe releases new NGV statistics

NGVA Europe releases new NGV statistics

NGVA Europe has published new natural gas vehicle (NGV) statistics, available on their website. The data indicates more than 1.3 million NGVs on the road in Europe as at the end of 2009, which account for a market share of 0.4% of all road vehicles — up from 0.3% compared to June 2009. The number of NGVs grew by almost 16% or nearly 200,000 vehicles during that period.

NGV Use in Public and Municipal Transport Systems: Webinars on Europe’s Success

| Europe

A series of webinars will be presented in Europe from 13-15 April to discuss the advantages and benefits of implementing a successful NGV network for public and municipal transport. An expert panel will discuss the latest status, efficiencies, strategies and studies of NGV systems and alternative-fuel successes around Europe, including a featured case study of the City of Nantes. The city is considered to be setting the standard in EU compliance towards green municipal vehicle conversion. Read more »