Goal: 1 million CNG Vehicles by 2025, 2000 CNG filling stations
Volkswagen Group together with operators of CNG filling stations and gas networks have signed a joint declaration of intent, committing themselves to the extension of CNG mobility in Germany. Other signatories to the agreement are E.ON Gas Mobil GmbH, Gazprom NGV Europe GmbH, Gazu GmbH, ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH, Open Grid Europe GmbH, Pitpoint B.V. and TOTAL Deutschland GmbH.
The corporations came together to develop specific measures to expedite CNG mobility growth for both car and truck traffic as well as public transport in cities and municipalities. They also plan to grow the number of collaborative partners.
CNG signifies “Compressed Natural Gas” and can be both natural gas or regenerative gas gained from green electricity. The signers thereby corroborate the objectives of the “Round Table for Natural Gas Mobility” initiated by the Federal Ministry of Economy in 2016, where representatives of vehicle manufacturers, the gas industry, filling stations operators as well as representatives of important retail customers, fleet operators and the public sector came together.
With their contributions, the signers, together with other vehicle manufacturers, works towards multiplying the CNG vehicle fleet in Germany tenfold to 1 million vehicles by 2015. Moreover, the initiative aims to expedite the extension of the filling station network in Germany to increase it from 900 locations today to 2,000 by 2025. On the basis of the EU directive 2014/94 (the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure), the expansion will also be promoted in other European countries.
“Due to its purview, Volkswagen Group recognises its considerable social responsible with regard to the energy revolution. Its short-term availability makes natural gas an important component of our overall strategy for eco-friendly mobility of the future. Owing to the addition of methane from renewable resources, the propellant can gradually become even greener. This makes it an important constituent of the energy revolution in the transport sector in the long run, too,” says Dr Ulrich Eichhorn, head of research and development at Volkswagen.
This approach is in line with the alternative fuel strategy of the European Union and the announcements made by the Federal Government in its recently-passed climate protection plan 2050.
(Source: Volkswagen AG)
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