Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs)

inThailand

By Paweenuch ChainuwatEmail: talapad21@yahoo.com

Thailand

Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs)

• What is it?

- A Natural gas vehicle or NGV is a vehicle that uses compressed natural gas (CNG) or, less commonly, liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a clean alternative to other automobile fuels.

Sources

• Where do we get natural gas from?

- The Gulf of Thailand: A Long-Lasting Source of Natural Gas.

The Gulf of Thailand

• Thailand found a source of natural gas in the Gulf of Thailand in 1981.

• It allows the country to depend on domestic energy sources.

Benefits of NGVs

• 85-99% Methane

• Clean burning

• Exhaust emissions from NGVs are much lower than those from equivalent gasoline-powered vehicles

• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions

• Noise reductions

• Lower cost

NGV Price

Date Alpha-X

95

Alpha-X

91

Diesel NGV

12 Apr 2005

22.89 22.09 17.69 9.53

12 Apr

2006

27.94 27.14 25.79 8.50

Exchange Rate: 38.19 Bath/ USD 1.00

NGVs in Thailand

• First NGVs Use It was introduced in 1984 with transited buses and Tuk Tuk.

NGVs Today

• Numbers of NGVs

- 10,569 NGVs (Jan 2006)

- PTT expected to increase numbers of NGVs to 70,000 by the end of 2006.

• Numbers of NGV Refueling Stations - 60 stations (Mar 2006)

Types of Vehicles

• What types of vehicles run on natural gas?

1) Dedicated NGVs

2) Bi-Fuel NGVs

Dedicated NGVs

• A dedicated NGV runs on natural gas only.

• Dedicated NGVs can be gasoline-fueled vehicles that have been converted to run on natural gas.

• Mostly dedicated NGVs are produced by original equipment manufacturers.

Examples of NGV Cars

Honda Civic GX The Omni Cargo

Bi-Fuel NGVs

• A bi-fuel vehicle can run on either natural gas or gasoline.

• Many are designed to switch automatically to gasoline when the natural gas fuel tank reaches empty.

• These vehicles get the same or slightly fewer miles per equivalent gallon of natural gas as do vehicles using gasoline only.

Mercedes Expands Natural Gas Vehicle Production to Thailand

• Daimler Chrysler plans to begin producing natural gas vehicle (NGV) outside of Germany.

• Production will be for local sale as well as export.

Obstacles to The Widespread of Use of NGVs• The Absence of Transportation

• The Absence of Storage Infrastructure

• Loss of Cargo Space

• Increased Refueling Time

• Lower Driving Range

• Price

Solutions (1)

• Building more pipelines.

• Establishing more liquefied tankers.

• A slow fill gets more gas into the tank than does a fast fill.

• Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) is now promoting the new plan.

Solutions (2)

• Tax Reductions for CNG Vehicles - Tax reductions of 25% for CNG buses

and taxi cabs

- 20% for other CNG vehicles

• Giving an import tariff exemption for NGV cylinders and other related equipment

Solutions (3)

• Building more NGV refueling stations

- PTT plans to increase the number to 160 stations next year

- 740 nationwide in 2010

Conclusion

• Natural gas combustion produces no significant aldehydes or other air toxins.

• Natural gas price is cheaper than the price of gasoline.

• Safety