Volume IV Number 24 February 2009

CNG cylinders

Safety and handlingaccording to manufacturers

Vietnam

To adopt 800 CNG buses in 2009-2011

Global economic condition vs cylinder demandGlobal economic condition vs cylinder demand

Towards a clean and sustainable mobility

17-19JUNIOJUNE 2009

Feria de MadridMadrid FairPabellón 1 Pavilion 1info@gnv2009madrid.comwww.gnv2009madrid.com

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NGVA EuropeConference&Show

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February 20092

Summary04 More new OEM NGVs, more

projects, and more funding

Despite of the slow-down in globaleconomic condition and lower oil price,some Asian countries are showingvibrant market activities in NGV ...

18 NGV adoption versus cylinderdemand

With the global economic downturnlurking around us, companies all overthe world are taking measures anticipating for a slow-down in ...

24

27 Examples of cylinder prices

30 Malaysia NGV market reviews2008

34 The first hydrogen refuelling station for India

36 Rs 50 billion funding for CNGCorridors in India

37 CNG auto rickshaw project inPakistan

38 Vietnam to enter NGV business

38 More CNG buses and fuellingstations for the Philippines

Copies Distribution

CNG cylinder standards: ISO 11439

Asian NGV Communications is a publicationof NGV Communications Group, publishinghouse and fairs-conferences organizer: www.ngvgroup.comIn Europe, we print The Gas Vehicles Report,GVR, and www.ngvguide.com, theInternational NGV Guide. In Argentina, the Group publishes PrensaVehicular, Argentine CNG Guide, maps,books and brochures while in Brazil, Folhado GNV, Brazilian NGV Guide, maps andposters, among others. In Peru PrensaVehicular Peru. More info: www.ngvgroup.comThe signed articles are exclusive responsibility ofthe authors, as well as advertising companies andagencies are responsible for the published ads.

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21 Safety and handling according tocylinder producers

For this special CYLINDER edition,Asian NGV Communications invited acylinder manufacturer in Asia to sendtheir opinion regarding CNG cylinder ...

We print and mail to 24countries about 4.000 copiesaddressed to governmental relat-ed offices, OEM and Oil & Gascompanies, associations, related NGV indus-tries, refuelling stations,workshops and suppliers,according the following list (somefigures rounded):Armenia: 0.3%Australia: 4.1%Azerbaijan: 0.2%Bangladesh: 5.0%China: 10.9%Egypt: 1.9%India: 9.5%

Indonesia: 1.6%Iran: 7.0%Israel: 0.1%Japan: 10.2%Korea: 5.1%Malaysia: 6.6%Myanmar: 0.5%New Zealand: 1.0%Pakistan: 11.4%Philippines: 3.6%Russia:4.3%Singapore: 3.1%Taiwan: 0.2%Thailand: 5.8%Turkey: 5.5%United Arab Emirates: 2.1%Vietnam: 0.1%

In addition, the magazine issent to over 19.300 readersin 94 countries

by e-mail (.pdf) and is also onlinein www.ngvgroup.comIf your NGV business is in Asia,advertise with us.

Asian NGV Communications300-14, Changchon-Ri,Namsan-Myun, Chuncheon-Si, Kangwon-Do,200-911 KOREATel : +31 20 420 1076Tel : +82 33 260 3419e-mail: asia@ngvgroup.com

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February 20094

Despite of the slow-down in global economiccondition and lower oil price, some Asiancountries are showing vibrant market activities in NGV business. Bo Huang, CEOof Sinoenergy Corporation, developer andoperator of CNG refuelling stations in Chinaeven said, "Despite the effects of global economic downturn from which China is notimmune, we are fortunate in the CNG refuelling station business as demand forCNG continues unabated in China.” Apartfrom big NGV countries such as China, India,etc, small NGV countries and new entries suchas the Philippines and Vietnam are also keenon adopting (more) NGVs in their vehicle fleets.Besides the current and planned projects inthe NGV business that include new findingsin gas field, funding, targets, NGV and refuelling station programmes, new OEMNGV models, there are also two sectionsregarding NG resources. Apart from thecommon gas field as the main source ofCNG and LNG, two alternative sources areillustrated in below stories: biogas(biomethane or bio-CNG) in South Korea andcoal-bed methane (CBM) in India. For moreinformation regarding biogas and CBM,please refer to separate article in this magazine: “Alternative resources to NG supply”.

Recent activities The Australian government and Holden—anautomaker--will invest hundreds of millions ofAUD to upgrade Holden’s Adelaide plant tobuild a small car powered by a 4-cylinderengine. The car will be built from the thirdquarter of 2010 onwards and will be powered by direct injection petrol and dieselengines, with planned support for E85, LPGand CNG in the future. In China, a new gas field with provedreserves of 100 billion cubic metres (cbm)was reported to be found in the XinjiangUygur Autonomous Region in China by Oil &Gas company PetroChina. Meanwhile, 20CNG stations were opened in Hefei City inAnhui Province last December. Sinoenergyhas opened 3 new NG stations in WuhanCity in Hubei Province. By 2010/2011, 9 stations with a total gas supply of110,000cbm/day are scheduled to be constructed in Guangyuan City, SicuanProvince. Laiwu Public Bus Company hasbought 35 NG buses for Laiwu City whichhave been operated since the beginning ofthis year.In India, Durgapur city has been operating itsfirst 27 CNG autorickshaws since Januarythis year. About 53 more units are expectedto be added soon. The city has one CNGrefuelling station which is owned by IndianOil Corporation (IOC). The gas is obtainedfrom CMB mining in Raniganj coalfield area,

which is extracted by the Great Eastern EnergyCorporation. Durgapur CNG at Rs 30/kg is49% cheaper than the Rs 51/litre gasoline,and, moreover, offers a higher mileage of 35km/kg compared to gasoline’s 28 km/litre.Coming close to the 31 December 2008deadline of the Calcutta High Court forswitching over to CNG, 9,000 auto-rickshawowners applied for the permission to converttheir rickshaws to CNG or LPG, saidTransport Minister Subhas Chakraborty. The government offers Rs 126,000funding/vehicle for switching it to clean fuel.This already includes a guarantee-free bankloan of Rs 95,000 plus Rs 10,000 subsidy.According to an agreement between BajajAuto and the government, Baja Auto willoffer Rs 5,000 discount on the new vehicleand it will reimburse Rs 5,000 to the vehicleowners when they hand over their old rickshaw. Apart from the subsidy, the vehicleowner will have to spend only Rs 10,000. After three visits from the World Bank officials, Pune Mahanagar ParivahanMahamandal Limited (PMPML) believes itsRs 4.52 billion loan proposal would be granted. PMPML plans to use the loan tofinance the new bus project in which Rs 3.5billion will be used to fund the purchase ofnew buses, the construction of new busdepots and improvement of the existing busdepots and terminals. Rs 100 million will beused to convert existing buses into CNG.Also, Rs 40 million will be allocated for amodern training centre.Despite of the general slow-down in autosales, Indian vehicle manufacturers continuewith their plans to introduce or increase theirsales network of new NGV models. Afterlaunching Bolero Pick-up Flatbed CNG inDelhi, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M)launched the pick-up in Gujarat. The vehiclecomplies with BS III (Euro III equivalent) emission norms. Also, Scooters India Limited(SIL) plans to launch a CNG version of apassenger three-wheeler in the domesticmarket. TATA Motors feels confident aboutits NGV business and recently has signed aten-year agreement with Advanced EngineComponents Limited (AEC) for Tata’s NGVselections. AEC designs, develops, tests andcertifies CNG kits for NGVs. Expanding itsmarket, TATA also displayed air-conditionedXenon CNG in Motor Bazzar 2008 inBangkok Thailand.Korean-based Daesung Industrial Gases Co.Ltd. is developing one of the first biogas-to-CNG projects in Asia in Kimpo City. The project aims at producing biogas fromthe municipal landfill using QuestAir’s M-3200 pressure swing adsorption system. Thelandfill will be purified to create bio-CNG tofuel city vehicles. Daesung Industrial and

Hansol EME, a Korea-based environmentalengineering company, plan to build a large-scale biogas upgrading plant in 2010 ifthe demonstration project meets expectations. Biogas production is a goodalternative for many countries, especially forthose which still import natural gas to meettheir energy demand. Biogas productionoffers a domestic, renewable source of CNGwith high methane content.Pakistan is currently working on the supplyof CNG for transport sector and the retailgas price at the refuelling station. The government has decided to mainly allocatethe resource to housing sector to warm housesduring cold winter, and, thus, only limitedamount of CNG stations acquire enough gassupply. Gasoline vehicle owners are also facingchallenges to refuel their vehicles as gasolinesupply in the country is also decreasing. Although the government has increasedCNG price by Rs 4.40/kg from the previousrate Rs 44.50/kg, All Pakistan CNGAssociation, and, thus CNG station owners,have decided not to charge their customerswith the 10% increase.The Philippines Department of Energy (DOE)has invited private investors to build 2 CNGrefuelling stations in preparation for the startof the commercial phase of the alternativefuel program for public transport. Earlier,Canadian-based compressor and dispensermanufacturer, IMW Industries Ltd., held atalk with the DOE to conduct a study on thedevelopment of a CNG infrastructure for thetransport industry.The government is very keen to increaseCNG bus population from the current 24 to185 this year and has set a target of 2,000CNG buses plying in the country by 2010.The DOE has issued four certificates ofauthority to import more CNG buses toaccredited bus operators. CNG is now soldat P14.52/liter equivalent gasoline.In early January, Thailand Transport MinisterSophon Saram promised to continue with aBt62.6 billion project to lease 4,000 buses toserve Bangkok commuters. ChairatSanguansue, Director of the Department ofLand Transport, said they were waiting forthe new government to decide whether theBangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) canlease 4,000 air-conditioned CNG buses orcancel the project. If a green light is given, the BMTA wouldlaunch a tender to seek a bus supplier whowill provide 80% of the total buses withinone year and the remaining number in thefollowing six months. Vietnam is to enter NGV business this year,said Duong Hong Thanh, the Director of HoChi Minh (HCM) City Department ofTransport (DOT). Two Korean buses havebeen imported to Vietnam, to be retrofittedto CNG system. About 38 more buses willbe installed with CNG kits at a later stage.The HCM DOT has set to have 800 CNGOEM and/or converted CNG buses in thecity by 2011 and to have several refuellingfacilities around the city.

More new OEM NGVs, moreprojects, and more funding

February 20096

亚洲将有更多OEM天然气新车型、示范项目与经济激励政策尽管全球经济形势恶化，以及石油价格走低，某些亚洲国家仍旧在天然气汽车市场上显现出强劲的增长前景。中国能源公司（Sinoenergy）首席执行官黄波介绍，“作为天然气加气站的开发和运营商，中国能源公司同样受到了此轮全球经济衰退的影响，但是幸运的是我们的加气站业务需求仍旧很高，这得益于中国对天然气的需求持续增长。”除了中国这样的天然气汽车大国，一些新兴市场，如菲律宾、越南等，也对发展本国的天然气汽车产业投注了极大的兴趣。除了现有的以及计划中的天然气汽车相关项目，其中涉及气田的发现、政府发展基金的成立、加气站的建设项目、以及OEM新车型的生产，还有有关新气源的重要项目。除了常规气田产生的天然气，目前又出现了两种新气源，一个是在韩国的生物甲烷，或称生物压缩天然气，另外一种是在印度的煤层气（CBM）。欲知上述两种气源更多的信息，请参考阅读本期题为“天然气新气源”的文章。

近期活动澳大利亚政府和霍顿汽车公司将投资上亿澳元用于对霍顿-阿德雷德工厂生产的4缸轿车进行技术升级。这个车型将从2010年第三季度开始生产，发动机匹配的是汽油和柴油直喷系统，未来将能使用E85、LPG和CNG作燃料。中国石油天然气集团公司在中国新疆省发现了一个可采储量达1000亿立方米的气田。另外，去年12月，中国的安徽省合肥市新建了20个天然气加气站。中国能源公司在湖北武汉市新建了3座加气站。到2010/2011年，四川省广元市将新建9座加气站，日供气能力将达11万立方米。从今年初到现在，Laiwu公交公司新购了35辆天然气公交车。印度Durgapur市从今年一月份开始运营27辆天然气三轮汽车。约有53辆新车将加入车队。该城拥有1座加气站，其拥有者是印度石油公司（IOC）。该城用的天然气取自Raniganj地区的煤层气，其开采者为东方能源公司。Durgapur市的压缩天然气价格为每公斤30卢比，而汽油价格则为每升51卢比，前者整整便宜了49%。天然气汽车的燃油经济性比汽油车高，达到每公斤35公里，而汽油车为每升28公里。印度运输部部长Subhas Chakraborty 说， 在加尔各达最高法院规定的改装期限（2008年12月31日）内，有超过9000名车主申请将他们的三轮汽车改装为天然气或液化石油气车型。政府为每辆改装车提供了12万6千卢比的改装资金，其中政府免担保贷款95,000卢比，补贴10,000卢比。根据Bajaj汽车公司与政府达成的协议，Bajaj汽车公司为新车提供5,000卢比的折扣，同时为那些提供旧车的车主折价5,000卢比。除去补贴，车主仅需花费10,000卢比。在经过世界银行三次考察后，PMPML公司认为他们将获得世界银行45.2亿卢比的贷款。PMPML公司计划使用这笔贷款于新公交车项目，包括车辆的购买，车站的建设，现有车站的更新等。其中，1亿卢比将用于改装现有公交车为天然气车型，4千万卢比将用于建设一个现代的培训中心。尽管汽车销售遇到了障碍，但印度汽车制造商继续计划引入天然气汽车。继在德里引入了Bolero天然气皮卡车型之后，Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M)公司又将该车引入Gujara市。该车符合BSIII标准（等效于欧洲三号排放标准）。此外，Scooters India Limited (SIL)公司计划将一款天然气版的三轮乘用车引入国内市场。TATA汽车公司对自己的天然气汽车业务非常有信心，最近与AEC发动机公司签署了一份长达十年的合作协议，AEC公司今后将为TATA设计、开发、测试并认证天然气汽车部件。为了扩展市场，TATA将在2008年泰国的汽车展览中展出其配备空调系统的Xenon牌天然气汽车。韩国Daesung燃气公司正在Kimpo市开发一个生物甲烷气转换天然气示范项目。该项目将使用QuestAir公司的M-3200吸附技术从城市垃圾中生产生物甲烷。如果示范项目达到预期效果，Daesung与韩国的一家环境工程公司Hansol EME 将在2010 年建设一个大型生物甲烷工厂。对于那些天然气进口国家来说，生物甲烷的生产将是一个十分不错的选择。自行生产生物甲烷不仅可以不依赖于天然气的进口，同时可以获取甲烷含量高的可再生天然气。巴基斯坦目前正在积极为运输部门提供天然气燃料，同时积极调整加气站的零售价格。政府决定在冬季主要将天然气资源用于家庭取暖，因此仅有部分加气站可以获得充足的天然气供应。由于汽油的供应也面临短缺，因此该国的汽油车车主同样面临燃料供应的挑战。尽管政府此前提高了天然气价格，从每公斤44.5卢比提高到48.9卢比，但是巴基斯坦天然气协会和加气站运营商决定仍维持以前的价格。为了进行替代燃料公交车的商业化运营，菲律宾能源部已吸引私人投资者建设两座天然气加气站。早些时候，加拿大压缩机和售气机制造商IMW公司曾与能源部进行磋商进行一项天然气基础设施开发的研究。政府对今年将现有的24辆天然气公交车提高到185辆非常有信心，并设置了到2010年提高到2000辆的目标。能源部向经认证的公交车运营商颁发了四张天然气汽车进口许可证。压缩天然气的价格目前约为14.52比索/升当量汽油。一月初，泰国运输部长Sophon Saram承诺，继续出资626亿泰铢用于租赁4000辆公交车。国土运输部长ChairatSanguansue说，他们在等待新一届政府做出决定——曼谷的公交公司是否可以租赁4000辆带有空调系统的天然气公交车。如果被批准，曼谷公交公司将发出招标书寻求公交车供应商，此供应商须在一年内供应80%的公交车，其余的车辆将在随后半年内供应。越南胡志明市运输部长Duong Hong Thanh 称， 越南将今年将引入天然气汽车。目前，已有两辆韩国生产的公交车进口到越南，准备改装为天然气车型。此外，还有38辆公交车将加装天然气系统。胡志明市运输部计划到2011年引入800辆OEM或改装的天然气公交车，同时在该市建立若干加气站。

February 20098

세계경제의 침체와 낮은 유가에도 불구하고 몇 몇 아시아 국가들은 NGV 사업에서 활발한 활동을 보이고 있다. SinoenergyCorporation의 CEO이며 중국 내 CNG 충전소 개발자이며 운영자인 Bo Huang은 심지어 “ 중국도 피할 수 없는 세계적경제침체의 영향에도 불구하고 중국 내에서 CNG 수요가 줄지 않고 있어 CNG 충전 사업에서 우리는 운이 좋다”라고말하였다. 중국, 인도 등과 같은 거대한 NGV 국가와는 별개로 규모가 작은 NGV 국가와 필리핀, 베트남과 같은 새로운가입국들은 또한 차량분야에 더 많은 NGV 도입을 위해 열중하고 있다. NGV 사업분야에서 현재 계획되어 있는 프로젝트와 가스전, 자금과 목표, NGV와 충전소, 새 OEM NGV 모델 외에 천연가스자원과 관련된 두 가지의 영역이 더 있다. 주 자원인 CNG와 LNG와 같은 일반적인 가스전과는 별개로 두 가지 대체 자원이아래에 설명되어 있다: 한국의 바이오가스(biomethane 또는 bio-CNG)와 인도의 탄층메탄 (CBM)이다. 바이오가스와CBM에 관한 보다 자세한 설명이 필요하면 본 잡지의 “천연가스 공급을 위한 대체자원”에 관한 기사를 참조하시기바랍니다.

최근 활동호주정부와 자동차제조업체인 Holden사는 Holden의 4기통엔진의 소형차를 제작하는 애들레이드 공장을 증설하기위하여수천만 달러(호주달러)를 투자할 계획이다. 앞으로 2010년 3/4 제작되며 향후에는 E85, LPG와 CNG가 가능한 휘발유와경유 직접분사 엔진이 장착될 것이다.중국에서는 석유가스회사인 페트로차이나에 의해 신강위그루자치구에서 천억입방미터(cbm)의 매장량을 가진 새로운가스전 발견이 보고되었다. 한편, 20개의 CNG충전소가 안휘성의 합비시에 지난 12월 문을 열었다. Sinoenergy사는호북성의 우한시에 3개의 새로운 천연가스충전소를 오픈하였다. 2010년내지 2011년까지 총 110,000cbm의 가스를 공급할9개의 충전소가 스촨성 지방의 광위안시에 건설될 예정이다. 라이우시내버스회사는 올해 초부터 운행이 되는 라이우시에35개의 천연가스버스를 도입하였다.

인도에서는 두르가푸르시에서 올해 1월부터 27대의 CNG오토릭샤(3륜차)가 최초로 운행되고 있다. 약 53대가 곧 추가로도입이 될 것으로 예상된다. 이 도시는 인도석유회사의 소유인 CNG 충전소 하나를 보유하고 있다. 가스는라니간지탄전지역의 CBM광산에서 조달하며 이는 Great Eastern Energy Corporation이 추출한 것이다. 두르가푸르에서CNG가격은 kg당 30루피로 리터당 51 루피의 휘발유 가격에 비해 49%나 저렴하며 휘발유는 리터당 28km를 운행하는데반해 CNG는 kg당 35km를 주행할 수 있는 높은 연비를 제공한다.9,000대의 오토릭샤 의 CNG 또는 LPG 개조허가를 위한 캘커나고등법원의 신청이 2008년 12월 31일부로 마감되었다고교통부장관인 Subhas Chakraborty가 발표하였다. 정부는 청정연료로의 전환을 위해 차량당 126,000루피의 자금지원을 할 것이다. 이는 이미 무보증 은행대출 95,000루피와더불어 10,000루피의 보조금을 포함한 것이다. Bajaj자동차회사와 정부와의 협약에 따르면 Bajaj자동차는 새로운차량구입에 대해 5,000루피를 할인해줄 것이며 중고차를 양도할 경우 차주에게 5,000 루피를 보상해줄 것이다. 보조금과별개로 차량소유주들은 오직 10,000 루피만 들이면 될 것이다. 세계은행임원들의 세 차례 방문 이후 Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML)는 45억 2천만 루피의대출이 가능할 것으로 믿는다. PMPML은 새로운 버스의 구입, 차고지의 추가건설과 현재의 차고지와 터미널의 개선을 위해35억 루피의 자금이 사용되는 신버스프로젝트를 위한 자금조달에 대출을 이용할 계획이다. 1억 루피는 현재 운행중인버스를 CNG로 개조하는데 사용될 것이며, 또한 4천만 루피는 최신교육센터를 위해 할당될 것이다.

자동차판매의 전반적인 불황시기에도 불구하고, 인도의 자동차제조업체는 NGV새 모델의 판매를 위한 네트워크를도입하거나 증가시키는 계획을 유지하고 있다. 델리에서 볼레로 CNG픽업트럭을 선보인 이후에 Mahindra and Mahindra(M&M)는 구자르트에 픽업트럭을 선보였다. 위 차량은 BS III (Euro III와 동등)배기기준을 따르고 있다. 또한 Scooters IndiaLimited (SIL)는 자국 내 시장에 승객용 CNG 삼륜차를 소개할 예정이다. TATA 모터스는 NGV사업에 대해 확신하며 최근TATA의 NGV 선정을 위해 Advanced Engine Components Limited (AEC)와 10년 계약에 서명을 하였다. AEC는 NGV용CNG kit를 디자인 및 개발하고 테스트 및 인증을 하는 곳이다. 시장확대를 위하여 TATA는 또한 태국 방콕에서 열린 MotorBazzar 2008에서 냉난방 장치를 한 크세논 CNG를 전시하였다. 한국기업인 대성산업가스는 김포시에서 바이오가스를 CNG로 활용하는 첫 번째 프로젝트 중 하나를 개발하고 있다. 이프로젝트는 QuestAir의 M-3200 압력순환흡착시스템을 사용하여 국내의 쓰레기매입지로부터 바이오가스를 생산하는 것을목표로 하고 있다. 이 매립쓰레기는 도시차량용 연료인 bio-CNG를 생산하기 위해 정제과정을 거치게 될 것이다. 이시범사업이 기대치를 충족시킨다면 대성산업가스와 한국 환경공학업체인 한솔 EME가 2010년 내 대규모의 바이오가스플랜트를 건설할 계획이다. 바이오가스 생산은 많은 국가, 특히 에너지 수요를 충당하기 위해 천연가스를 수입하고 있는국가들에게 좋은 대안이 되고 있다. 바이오가스 생산은 메탄함량이 높은 국산, 신재생 에너지 자원으로 CNG를 제공한다.파키스탄은 현재 수송용 CNG공급과 충전소의 소매가격책정을 착수하고 있다. 정부는 자원을 주로 추운 겨울에 난방용으로사용하기 위해 주로 가정용에 배분할 것이기 때문에 따라서 CNG 충전소가 충분한 가스공급을 받는 것이 제한될 것이다.휘발유차량 소유주들은 자국 내의 휘발유 공급 또한 감소하고 있어 차량연료보급문제에 직면하고 있다.비록 정부가 CNG 가격을 이전가격인 kg 당 44.50 루피에서 4.40루피를 인상했음에도 불구하고 파키스탄의 CNG 협회와CNG충전소 업주들은 고객에게 10%의 요금 인상을 부과하지 않을 것으로 결정했다.필리핀 에너지성(DOE)는 대중교통분야 대체연료프로그램의 영리를 목적으로 준비중인 2개의 CNG 충전소를 건설할 개인투자자들을 초청하였다. 일찍이 캐나다의 압축기 및 디스펜서 제조업체인 IMW Industries Ltd.는 수송 산업을 위한 CNG인프라 구축에 관한 연구를 수행하기 위해 DOE와 회의를 가졌다.정부는 올해 현재 24대의 CNG버스의 수를 185대로 증가시키기 위해 매우 노력 중이며 2010년까지 국가 내 2,000대의CNG버스의 운행을 목표로 잡았다. DOE는 CNG버스를 추가로 수입하기 위해 당국의 네 가지 인증서를 공인된 버스회사 운영자에게 발급하였다. 1월 초 태국교통부장관 Sophon Saram은 방콕 통근자들의 편의제공을 위한 4,000대의 버스를 임대하는 626억바트의프로젝트를 지속하기로 약속하였다. 육로수송부장관 Chairat Sanguansue는 방콕대중교통공사(BMTA)가 냉난방시설을갖춘 4,000대의 CNG버스를 임대하거나 혹은 본 프로젝트를 철회할지 여부를 결정지을 새 정부를 기다리고 있다고 밝혔다.

승인이 떨어질 경우, BMTA는 1년 안에 총 버스의 80%를 제공하고 차후 6개월 내에 나머지 물량을 제공할 버스 공급업체를찾기 위한 입찰에 착수할 것이다.

베트남은 올해 NGV사업을 시작할 것이라고 호치민시 교통부장관 Duong Hong Thanh이 발표하였다. 2대의 한국 버스가CNG시스템으로 개조되어 수출된 바 있다. 추가로 약 38대의 버스가 차후에 CNG kit를 장착하게 될 것이다. HCM DOT은2011년까지 호치민시 내에 800개의 CNG OEM 그리고/혹은 CNG버스를 보유하고 도시 주변에 몇 개의 충전설비를 갖출계획을 하고 있다.

프로젝트, 자금의 증가

February 200910

新しいＯＥＭ車、新プロジェクトそして新たな財政的支援世界同時不況と原油価格の下落にも関わらず、アジアの国にはＮＧＶビジネスが活況を呈している国もある。中国でＣＮＧスタンドの設置、運営を行っているSinoenergy社ＣＥＯであるボー・ウアン氏は次のように語っている。「中国も世界同時不況の影響を受けているにもかかわらず、中国でのＣＮＧ需要は衰えていないのでＣＮＧスタンドビジネスは好調である。」中国やインドのようなＮＧＶ大量普及国と異なり、フィリピンやベトナムのようにＮＧＶ普及が初期の国々もさらなるＮＧＶ普及を望んでいる。新しいガス田の発見、財政的支援、普及目標、ＮＧＶとＣＮＧスタンドプログラム、新しいＯＥＭ車といったものを含むＮＧＶビジネスには現在および計画中のプロジェクトにおいて天然ガス供給元として新たな２つの分野がある。ＣＮＧやＬＮＧの主な供給元である通常のガス田とは別の２つの代替供給源である。一つは韓国のバイオガス（バイオメタンまたはバイオＣＮＧ）とインドの炭層メタン（CBM）である。このバイオガスとＣＢＭについての詳細は本号に「天然ガスの代替供給源」という記事があるので、そちらを参照していただきたい。

最近の動向オーストラリア政府と自動車メーカーのホールデン社は４気筒エンジンの小型車を生産するためにアデレード工場を更新するため数億豪州ドルを投資する計画である。この車は２０１０年第３四半期から生産され、直噴のガソリンエンジンやディーゼルエンジンが搭載され、将来的にはＥ８５，ＬＰＧ，ＣＮＧも計画されている。中国では、１千億㎥の確認埋蔵量がある新しいガス田が新疆ウイグル自治区で発見されたとPetrChinaが報告した。一方、安徽省合肥市では１２月に２０ヶ所のＣＮＧスタンドが開所した。湖北省武漢市では、Sinoenergy社が３ヶ所の新しいＣＮＧスタンドをオープンさせた。四川省広元市では、２０１０年―２０１１年までに１日あたり合計１１万㎥のガスを供給する９ヶ所のＣＮＧスタンドの建設が計画されている。莱蕪公営バスは莱蕪市で今年初めから運行している３５台の天然ガスバスを購入した。インドでは、ドルガプル市は今年の１月から初めて２７台のＣＮＧオート三輪車を導入している。まもなくさらに５３台が導入される予定である。市内にはインド国営石油会社(IOC)が運営するＣＮＧスタンドが１ヶ所ある。天然ガスは、Great EasternEnrgy社が持つラニガンジ炭田の炭層メタンから取っている。ドルガプル市ではＣＮＧが３０ルピー／ｋｇで、ガソリン５１ルピー／リットルより４９％安価であり、それ以上にガソリンが２８ｋｍ／リットルの燃費であるのに対し、ＣＮＧは３５ｋｍ／ｋｇと良好な燃費である。ＣＮＧ車への切換えを命じたカルカッタ高等裁判所の判決の期限である２００８年１２月３１日が近づき、９千台のオート三輪車オーナーはＣＮＧかＬＰＧに改造する許可を申請したとスバス・シャクラボルティー運輸大臣が語った。政府はクリーン燃料への切り換えのために１台あたり１２万６千ルピーの財政的支援を用意している。これは、９万５千ルピーの無担保銀行融資と１万ルピーの補助金をすでに含んでいる。バジャイ社と政府の合意によると、バジャイ社は新車に５千ルピーの割引を行い、古いオート三輪車を手離す際に５千ルピーを車の所有者に払い戻す。補助金を別にして、車両のオーナーは１万ルピーだけで新車を手に入れることができる。 世界銀行関係者の３度の訪問で、Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal 社（PMPML） は４５億２ 千万ルピーの借款が提案されるだろうと信じている。ＰＭＰＭＬ社は、３５億ルピーで新しいバスの購入、新しいバス営業所の建設、既存のバス営業所やバスターミナルの更新を行う新たなバスプロジェクトの資金供給をこのローンを利用して行う計画である。１億ルピーがＣＮＧバスへの改造に使われるだろう。また、４千万ルピーが最新の訓練センターに配分される。自動車販売の低減にも関わらず、インドの自動車会社は新しいＮＧＶモデルの販売ネットワークを新設あるいは増やす計画を続けている、デリーにおけるBoleroピックアップ平ボディＣＮＧ車の発表の後、Mahindra and Mahindra（M&M） 社はグジャラートでピックアップを販売開始した。また、Scooters India社（SIL）は国内向けに旅客用ＣＮＧ 三輪車を販売する計画である。タタ自動車はＮＧＶビジネスに自信を持っており、タタ自動車のＮＧＶ用にAdvanced Engine Components 社との１０年契約に合 意した。ＡＥＣ社はＮＧＶ用改造キットの設計、開発、テスト、保証をしている、市場の拡大により、タタ自動車はタイのバンコクでの２００８年自動車バザールでエアコン付きXenonＣＮＧを出展した。韓国のDaesung Industrial Gas社は金浦市でアジアで最初のバイオガスをＣＮＧ にするプロジェクトの一つを開発している。このプロジェクトは QuestAir 社のM-3200圧力吸収システムを利用し、 市の埋め立て地からバイオガスを作ることを目的としている。この埋立地は市有車に燃料を供給するためにバイオＣＮＧのみを製造するためのものである。Daesund Indutrial 社と韓国の環境エンジニアリング会社のHansol EME社は、試験設備が結果を出せば、２０１０年に大規模バイオガス発生設備を建設する計画がある。バイオガス製造は多くの国々で、特に需要に対応するために今だ天然ガスを輸入している国々に適している代替燃料である。バイオガス製造は高いメタン含有のＣＮＧの国産でかつ再生可能エネルギー源である。パキスタンでは現在、輸送用分野へのＣＮＧ供給とＣＮＧスタンドでのガス販売価格に働きかけをしている。政府は冬季に家庭用暖房のために主としてガスを供給するよう決定した。その結果、限られたＣＮＧスタンドのみがＮＧＶにＣＮＧを供給している、ガソリン車オーナーもまたガソリン供給は減っているので同じように車へのガソリンの給油に苦労している。政府はＣＮＧ価格を４４.５０ルピー／kgから４.４０ルピー／kg値上げした。パキスタンＣＮＧ協会、つまりすべてのＣＮＧスタンド運営者は顧客に対してこの分の１０％値上げを転嫁しないことを決定した。フィリピンエネルギー省（DOE）は公共交通機関への代替燃料プログラムで商業段階のスタートをするために２ヶ所のＣＮＧスタンドを建設に関して私的投資家を招いた。いち早くカナダのＣＮＧ圧縮機とディスペンサーメーカーであるＩＭＷが輸送用分野においてＣＮＧスタンドインフラを整備するケーススタディーを行うため、ＤＯＥと協議を行った。政府は今年、ＣＮＧバスを２４台から１８５台まで増やそうとしており、２０１０年までに２千台のＣＮＧバスを導入する目標を掲げている。ＤＯＥはバス事業者の認可に際してさらにＣＮＧバスを輸入するために４つの許認可権を持っている。ＣＮＧは１リットルガソリン等価で１４.５２ペソで販売されている。１月初旬にタイ交通大臣のソフォン・サラムはバンコクの通勤用に４千台のバスをリースするために６２６億バーツの導入プロジェクトを引き続き継続すると約束した。交通局のシャイラット・サングアンスはバンコク交通営団（BMTA）が４千台のエアコン付きＣＮＧバスをリースするかこのプロジェクトをキャンセルするかを決めるために新しい政府の決定を待っていると語った。もし、このプロジェクトが認められれば、ＢＭＴＡは１年以内に８０％のバスを納入し、残りを続く半年以内に納入できるバスメーカーを探し始めることになるだろう。「ベトナムは今年、ＮＧＶを導入する。」とホーチミン市交通局のドン・ホン・タンは語った。ＣＮＧ改造を行った２台の韓国製バスが輸入された。今後は３８台以上のＮＧ改造バスが導入される予定である。ホーチミン市交通局は２０１１年までに８００台のＯＥＭまたはＣＮＧ改造バスを導入し、市周辺にＣＮＧスタンドを整備する計画である。

February 200912

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February 200914

Meskipun keadaan ekonomi dunia dan hargaminyak sedang menurun, beberapa negaraAsia melakukan banyak aktifitas di bidangNGV. Bo Huang, CEO dari SinoenergyCorporation, perusahaan konstruksi danpemilik beberapa stasiun di Cina berkata,"Meskipun CIna juga mengalami dampakdari menurunnya keadaan ekonomi dunia,kami sangat beruntung dengan adanya bisnis stasiun CNG refuelling kami karenademand CNG di Cina tidak menurun.Disamping negara NGV besar seperti Cina,India, dan lain sebagainya, negara-negaraNGV kecil dan new entries seperti Filipinadan Vietnam juga sangat tertarik mengadopsi NGV (tambahan) di armadakendaraan mereka.Disamping rencana-rencana dan proyek-proyek di sector NGV seperti temuansumber gas baru, alokasi dana, target, program di bidang NGV dan stsiun bahan-bakarnya, produksi model baru dari NGVs,ada dua bagian penting tentang sumberalternative CNG dibahas di bawah ini: biogas(biometane atau bio-CNG) di Korea Selatandan coal-bed metane (CBM) di India.Informasi lanjut tentang biogas dan CBM,“Alternative resources to NG supply”, dapatdibaca di artikel tersendiri di edisi ini.

Aktifitas saat iniPemerintah Australia dan Holden—produserkendaraan—akan menginvestasikan ratusanjuta AUD untuk meng-upgrade pabrikHolden di Adelaide untuk membuat mobilkecil dengan mesin 4-silinder. Mobil ini akandiproduksi sejak kuarter ketiga 2010 danakan menggunakan teknologi injeksi alngiungbahan bakar bensin dan diesel. Di masamendatang, direncanakan mobil ini akandijual juga dengan teknologi E85, LPG, danCNG.Di Cina, ditemukan sumber gas baru diXinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region di Cinaoleh perusahaan Oil & Gas PetroChina dengan kandungan 100 B meter kubik (m3).Di lain pihak, 20 stasiun CNG dibuka di kotaHefei di provinsi Anhui Desember lalu. Baru-baru ini, Sinoenergy telah membuka 3stasiun NG baru di kota Wuhan di provinsiHubei. Pada tahun 2010/2011, 9 stasiundengan total gas supply 110,000m3/dayakan dibangun di kota Guangyuan, provinsiSicuan. Perusahaan Bis Umum Laiwu telahmembeli 35 bis NG untuk kota Laiwu yangmana bis-bis ini telah dioperasikan sejakawal tahun ini.Di India, kota Durgapur telah mengoperasikan 27 CNG autorickshaw sejakJanuary 2009. Sekitar 53 unit lagi diharapkan akan segera ditambahkan kearmada ini. Durgapur mempunyai satu stasiun CNG yang dioperasikan olehKorporasi MInyak India (IOC). Gas dari stasiun ini didapat dari tambang CMB diarea penambangan batu bara Raniganj, yangdiolah oleh Great Eastern EnergyCorporation. CNG di Durgapur dijual sehargaRs 30/kg, 49% lebih murah daripada bensing yang dijual dengan harga Rs 51/litre,terlebih lagi, jika kendaraan menggunakanbahan bakar CNG, kendaraan ini bisa menempuh jarak 35 km/kg CNG dibanding

dengan 28 km/litre jika besin digunakansebagai bahan bakar.Mendekati 31 December 2008 deadline bagikonversi dari autorickshaw berbahan bakarpetroleum ke teknologi ”bahan-bakar bersih”yang dikeluarkan Calcutta High Court pemilik9,000 auto-rickshaw telah mengirimkanaplikasi untuk mengkonversi autorickshawmereka ke teknologi CNG atau LPG, menurut Menteri Transport SubhasChakraborty. Pemerintah menyediakan danasebanyak Rs 126,000/kendaraan untuk program konversi ini. Dana ini telah termasukgaransi pinjaman uang bank tanpa bungasebayak Rs 95,000 plus Rs 10,000 subsidi.Menurut kesepakatan antara Bajaj Auto danpemerintah, Bajaj Auto akan menawarkan Rs5,000 diskon bagi setiap pembelian autorickshaw baru dan mengembalikan Rs5,000 kepada pemilik kendaraan jika merekamenyerahakan rickshaw lama mereka.Disamping itu, pemilik rickshaw hanya perlumengeluarkan Rs 10,000 dari kantung mereka sendiri. Setelah tiga kunjungan dari staff Bank Dunia(World Bank), Pune Mahanagar ParivahanMahamandal Limited (PMPML) percayabahwa prosoal pinjaman mereka sebanyakRs 4.52B akan diterima. PMPML jugamerencanakan untuk menggunakan pinjaman ini untuk mendanai proyek “Bisbaru” yang mana Rs 3.5B akan digunakanuntuk mendanai pembelian bis baru, pembangunan bis depot baru dan perbaikanbis depot dan terminal lama. Rs 100 jutaakan digunakan untuk mengkonversi bisyang beroperasi saat ini ke system CNG. Rs40 juta akan dialokasikan bagi training centermodern.Meskpun sales mobil menurun, pabrikkendaraan India terus lanjut dengan rencanamereka dalam rangka mengeluarkan modelNGV baru dan meluaskan network saleskendaraan berbahan bakar CNG. Setelahmengeluarkan Bolero Pick-up Flatbed CNGdi Delhi, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M)memperkenalkan kendaraan ini di Gujarat.Kendaran ini memnuhi standard emisi BS III(setara dengan Euro III). Sealin itu, ScootersIndia Limited (SIL) berencana untuk memperkenalkan CNG variant dari kednraantiga roda di dalam negeri. TATA Motorsmerasa yakin dengan NGV bisnisnya danakhir-akhit ini telah menandatangani 10tahun kontrak dengan Advanced EngineComponents Limited (AEC) bagi koleksi NGVTata. AEC mendisain, mengembangkan,mengetest, dan mensertifikasi CNG kits bagiNGV. TATA juga mendisplay air-conditionXenon CNG di Motor Bazzar 2008 diBangkok Thailand.Daesung Industrial Gases Co. Ltd. di Koreasedang mengerjakan proyek biogas-ke-CNGpertama di Asia di kota Kimpo. Proyek inidijalankan untuk memproduksi biogas darisampah pemerintah local Kimpo denaganmenggunakan teknologi QuestAir’sM-3200 pressure swing adsorption system.Sampah ini dapat dimurnikan menjadi bahanbakar bio-CNG bagi kendaraan. DaesungIndustrial dan Hansol EME, perusahaanteknik lingkungan di berencana membangunpusat produksi biogas besar di tahun 2010

jika trial proyek ini berhasil. Biogas adalahalternative bagus bagi banyak negara,terutama bagi engara yang masih mengimport gas alam untuk memnuhidemand energi lokal. Produksi biogasmenawarkan sumber gas domestik yangberkesinambungan dengan tingkat metaneyang tinggi.Pakistan sedang mengalami tantangandalam hal supply CNG bagi sektor transportdan dalam hal harga retail gas di tank stasiun. Pemerintah memutuskan untukmengutamanakn supply gas bagi pemanasdi rumah penduduk selama musim dingin.Dengan demikian, hanya beberapa jumlahstasiun CNG mendapat supply gas.Kendaraan berbahan bakar bensin jugamengalami kendala dalam mendapatkanbahan bakar karena supply bensin jugasedang menurun.Meskipun pemerintah menaikkan harga CNGsebanyak Rs 4.40/kg dari harga aslinya Rs44.50/kg, All Pakistan CNG Association, danpemilik stasiun CNG memutuskan untuktidak menaikkan tariff CNG ke konsumer.Departemen Energy (DOE) Filipina telah mengundang investor-investor privat untukmembangun 2 stasiun CNG dalam rangkapreparasi dari fase komersialisasi programbahan bakar alternatif bagi kednaraanumum. Sebelumnya, produser kompresordan dispenser Canada, IMW Industries Ltd.,bertemu dengan DOE dan membahas rencana studi dari pembangunan infrastruktur CNG bagi sektor transport.Pemerintah ingin menambah jumlah bis CNGdari 24 menjadi 185 unit tahun ini, dan telahmenargetkan 2,000 bis CNG akan beroperasi di tahun 2010.DOE telah mengeluarkan 4 sertifikat bagioperator bis tertunjuk untuk mengimport bisCNG tambahan. Saat ini CNG dijual sehargaP14.52/liter equivalent bensin.Di awal Januari, Menteri Transport SophonSaram Tailand berjanji akan maju denganrencana proyek sewa bis bagi pengguna bisumum di Bangkok. Proyek senilai Bt62.6 Bini akan menyediakan 4,000 bis umum.Chairat Sanguansue, direktur dariDepartment of Land Transport, menyatakanbahwa pihaknya sedang menunggu keputusan dari kabinet pemerintahan barusehunbungan dengan sewa 4,000 AC CNGbis bagi Bangkok Mass Transit Authority(BMTA) yang mana pemerintha akan memberikan ijin kelanjutan proyek ini atupengancelan proyek ini. Jika pemerintah mengeluarkan ijinnya, BMTAakan mengadakan tender bagi supplier bisyang akan menyediakan 80% dari jumlahtotal bis yang akan disewa dalam waktu satutahun, sedangkan sisanya harus tersediadalam 6 bulan kemudian. Vietnam berencana akan mengadopsi NGVtahun ini, kata Duong Hong Thanh, DirekturDepartment of Transport (DOT) bagi kota HoChi Minh (HCM). Dua bis Korea telah diimport ke Vietnam, ayng mana akan dikonversi menjadi CNG bis. HCM DOTmenargetkan 800 CNG buatan pabrikdan/atau konversi akan beroperasi di kota inidi tahun 2011. Beberapa stasiun CNg jugaakan dibangun disekitar kota ini.

OEM NGV dan proyek-proyek baru, dan dana tambahan

February 200916

วางแผนเพิมรถเอ็นจีวี (OEM) พรอมทังเพิมโครงการตางๆและ เงินลงทุนแมวาเศรษฐกิจโลกจะตกตำลงและราคานำมันก็ลดลง แตมีบางประเทศในเอเชียกลับมีตลาดทีตืนตัวมากในธุรกิจเอ็นจีวี นาย Bo Huang ซีอีโอของบริษัท SinoenergyCorporation ผูพัฒนาและทำธุรกิจสถานีเติมกาซเอ็นจีวีในจีนไดกลาววา “แมวาเศรษฐกิจโลกจะตกตำลงซึงสงผลกระทบกับจีนแตเราโชคดีทีธุรกิจสถานีเติมกาซเอ็นจีวียังคงมีความตองการไมลดนอยลงในจีน” นอกจากนีประเทศทีมีธุรกิจเอ็นจีวีขนาดใหญ อยางเชน จีน อินเดีย ฯลฯประเทศทีมีธุรกิจเอ็นจีวีขนาดเล็ก และประเทศทีเพิงเขาสูธุรกิจนีอยางเชน ฟิลิปปินส และเวียดนาม ตางก็ตืนตัวหันมาใชรถเอ็นจีวีกันมากขึนดวย

นอกจากโครงการเอ็นจีวีทีมีอยูในปัจจุบันและทีไดวางแผนไวซึงรวมถึงโครงการหาแหลงกาซ, เงินทุน, โครงการรถเอ็นจีวีและสถานีเติมกาซ. รถเอ็นจีวี (OEM) รุนใหมแลวยังมีอีกสองโครงการทีเกียวกับแหลงกาซธรรมชาติ นอกจากแหลงกาซเอ็นจีวีและแอลเอ็นจีวี ไดแก ไบโอกาซ (ไบโอมีเทน หรือ Bio-CNG) ในเกาหลีใตและมีเทนในชันถานหิน (CBM) ในอินเดีย ซึงขอมูลเพิมเติมเกียวกับเชือเพลิงทังสองประเภทสามารถอานไดในฉบับนี ในบทความเรือง“Alternative Resources to

NG Supply” อัพเดทความเคลือนไหวในธุรกิจเอ็นจีวีรัฐบาลออสเตรเลียและบริษัทผูผลิตรถ Holden จะลงทุนรอยลานดอลลารออสเตรเลียเพือพัฒนาโรงงาน Adelaide ของ Holden สำหรับผลิตรถขนาดเล็กทีใชเครืองยนต4 สูบ โดยจะสามารถเริมผลิตรถไดในไตรมาสที 3 ปี 2010 และจะใชเครืองยนตเบนซินและดีเซลแบบไดเรคอินเจกชัน โดยวางแผนใหรองรับการใช E85, LPG และCNG ในอนาคต

ประเทศจีน ไดมีรายงานการพบแหลงกาซใหมมีปริมาณกาซ 100 พันลาน ลูกบาศกเมตร ซึงอยูในเมือง Xinjian Uygur ซึงคนพบโดยบริษัท PetroChinaเมือเดือนธันวาคมมีสถานีเติมกาซเอ็นจีวี 20 แหง ไดเปิดขึนในเมือง Hefei ในจังหวัด Anhui และบริษัท Sinoenergy ไดเปิดสถานีเติมกาซใหม 3 สถานีทีเมืองWuhan ในจังหวัด Hubei ภายในปี 2010 ถึง 2011 มีการวางแผนจะสรางสถานี 9 แหงทีจะจำหนายกาซไดถึง 110,000 ลูกบาศกเมตร ซึงจะสรางทีเมืองGuangyuan จังหวัด Sicuan บริษัท Laiwu Public Bus ไดนำรถบัสเอ็นจีวี 35 คัน มาใชในเมือง Laiwu ซึงไดเริมใชตังแตตนปีนีแลว

ประเทศอินเดีย เมือง Durgapur ไดเริมใชรถสามลอเอ็นจีวี (auto-rickshaws) 27 คันแรก ตังแตเดือนมกราคมปีนี ซึงจะมีเพิมขึนอีกประมาณ 53 คัน เร็วๆ นีในเมืองมีสถานีเอ็นจีวีแคเพียงสถานีเดียวโดยเจาของคือบริษัท Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) กาซนีไดมาจากการทำเหมือง CMB (มีเทนในชันถานหิน)ในพืนทีแหลงถานหิน Raniganj ซึงดำเนินการโดยบริษัท Great Eastern Energy Corporation ราคากาซเอ็นจีวีทีเมือง Durgapur อยูที 30 รูปี/กก. ซึงถูกกวา49% เมือเทียบกับแกซโซลีนราคา 51 รูปี/ลิตร และยิงกวานันยังไดระยะทางการวิงสูงกวาคือ 35 กม./กก. เมือเทียบกับแกซโซลีน 28 กม./ลิตร

กอนทีศาลสูงเมืองกัลกัตตา จะปิดรับเรืองขอเปลียนมาใชเอ็นจีวีในวันที 31 ธันวาคม 2008 มีผูประกอบการรถสามลอ 9,000รายไดสมัครขออนุญาตดัดแปลงรถสามลอของตนมาใชเอ็นจีวีหรือแอลพีจี กลาวโดยรัฐมนตรีคมนาคม นาย Subhas Chakraborty ทางรัฐบาลไดเสนอเงิน 126,000รูปีตอคัน เพือเปลียนมาใชพลังงานสะอาด โดยจะใหเงินกูทีไมตองมีการคำประกัน 95,000 บาท บวกกับเงินชวยเหลือตางหากอีก 10,000 บาทนอกจากนียังมีขอตกลงระหวาง บริษัท Bajaj Auto และรัฐบาลโดยบริษัท Bajaj Auto ไดเสนอลดราคาสำหรับรถใหม 5,000 รูปีและถาเจาของรถนำรถสามลอเกามาขายให บริษัทจะใหเงิน 5,000 รูปี จากเงินชวยเหลือนี เจาของรถจะมีคาใชจายเพียง 10,000 รูปี เทานัน

หลังจากทีไดเขาพบธนาคารโลกถึง 3 ครัง บริษัท Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) เชือวา แผนขอกูเงิน 4.52พันลานรูปีจะผานการอนุมัติ โดย PMPML วางแผนทีจะใชเงินกูสำหรับโครงการรถบัสใหม ซึงจะใชเงิน 3.5 พันลานรูปี เพือซือรถบัสใหม สรางสถานีและปรับปรุงสถานีและอาคารทีมีอยูแลว และจะใช 100 ลานรูปี ดัดแปลงรถบัสทีมีอยูแลวเป็นเอ็นจีวี สวนอีก 40 ลานรูปี จะนำไปใชสำหรับศูนยอบรมสมัยใหมแมวายอดขายรถทัวไปจะลดลง แตโรงงานผลิตรถยนตในอินเดียยังคงดำเนินแผนอยางตอเนืองทีจะแนะนำและขยายตลาดจำหนายรถเอ็นจีวีรุนใหมหลังจากทีไดปลอยตัวรถปิกอัพเอ็นจีวี Bolero ในเมืองเดลี บริษัท Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) ก็ไดเปิดตัวรถปิกอัพในเมืองกูจาราทดวย โดยรถนีไดมาตรฐานBSIII (ยูโร 3) ทางดานบริษัท Scooters India Limited (SIL) ก็ไดวางแผนทีจะเปิดตัวรถสามลอเอ็นจีวีในตลาดภายในประเทศดวย สวน TATA Motorsก็มีความเชือมันในธุรกิจเอ็นจีวีและไดเซ็นสัญญาขอตกลง 10 ปี กับบริษัท Advanced Engine Components Limited (AEC) สำหรับธุรกิจเอ็นจีวีของ TATA โดยAEC เป็นบริษัททีออกแบบ พัฒนา ทดสอบ และรับรองชุดคิทสสำหรับรถเอ็นจีวี นอกจากนี เพือขยายตลาด TATA ยังไดโชวรถกระบะ CNG Xenon ในงาน MotorBazzar 2008 ทีกรุงเทพ ประเทศไทย ดวยประเทศเกาหลี บริษัท Daesung Industrial Gasesกำลังพัฒนาโครงการทีจะเพิมคุณสมบัติของไบโอแกสใหเทียบเทากาซเอ็นจีวีซึงเป็นโครงการแรกในเอเชียทีเมืองคิมโปโครงการนีมีเปาหมายทีจะผลิตไบโอแกสจากแหลงกำจัดขยะดวยวิธีฝังกลบในเขตเทศบาล โดยใชระบบ QuestAir’s M-3200 Pressure swing Adsorption Systemกาซทีไดจากแหลงขยะนีจะถูกทำใหมีความบริสุทธิเพือทีจะผลิตกาซไบโอ-ซีเอ็นจี สำหรับเป็นเชือเพลิงใหกับยานพาหนะในเมืองนี บริษัท Daesung Industrialและบริษัท Hansol EME ซึงเป็นบริษัททีดำเนินการเกียวกับวิศวกรรมสิงแวดลอมในประเทศเกาหลี ไดวางแผนไววาจะสรางโรงงานผลิตไบโอแกสขนาดใหญทีไดมาตรฐานใหไดภายในปี 2010 ถาโครงการตัวอยางเป็นไปตามทีคาดหมายไว ไบโอแกสนันเป็นพลังงานทางเลือกใหมทีดีมากกับหลายๆ ประเทศโดยเฉพาะกับประเทศทีมีการนำเขากาซเอ็นจีวีเพือใหพอกับความตองการพลังงานในประเทศ ไบโอแกสนีเป็นพลังงานทีหาไดภายในประเทศและเป็นแหลงพลังงานทีไมมีวันหมดของกาซเอ็นจีวี ซึงมีกาซมีเทนเป็นสวนประกอบสูงประเทศปากีสถาน ปัจจุบันกำลังดำเนินงานทีเกียวของกับการจัดหากาซเอ็นจีวีใหกับภาคธุรกิจขนสง และราคากาซขายปลกีของสถานีเติมกาซรัฐบาลไดตัดสินใจทีจะจัดสรรกาซใหกับผูใชในครัวเรือนในหนาหนาวเป็นหลัก ดังนัน จะมีการจำกัดกาซใหกับสถานีเติมกาซซึงจะไดรับแคพอใชเทานันสวนทางดานผูทีมีรถทีใชแกซโซลีน ก็อาจตองเจอการจำกัดปริมาณนำมันดวยเชนกัน เพราะวาการจัดหาแกซโซลีนในประเทศก็มีการลดลงดวยถึงแมวารัฐบาลจะปรับเพิมราคาขายกาซเอ็นจีวีอีก 4.40 รูปีตอกก. จากราคาขายกอนหนานีที 44.50 รูปีตอกก. แตสมาคมซีเอ็นจีของปากีสถานและเจาของสถานีเติมกาซไดตัดสินใจทีจะไมคิดราคากับลูกคาเพิมแมราคาจะขึน 10 เปอรเซ็นตก็ตามประเทศฟิลิปปินส กรมพลังงาน (DOE) ไดเชิญนักลงทุนมาสรางสถานีเติมกาซจำนวน 2แหงเพือเตรียมการสำหรับการเริมตนโครงการพลังงานทางเลือกเชิงธุรกิจในภาคธุรกิจการขนสง ผูผลิตคอมเพลสเซอร และดิสเพนเซอร ในแคนาดา บริษัท IMWIndustries ไดประชุมกับกรมพลังงาน เพือทีจะศึกษาวิจัยการพัฒนาโครงสรางพืนฐานของระบบซีเอ็นจีในอุตสาหกรรมขนสงรัฐบาลมีความตืนตัวทีจะเพิมจำนวนรถบัสเอ็นจีวีจากเดิมทีมี 24 คันไปเป็น 185 คันในปีนี และตังเปาหมายทีจะมีรถบัสเอ็นจีวี 2,000 คันใหไดภายในปี 2010กรมพลังงานไดออกหนังสือรับรองเพืออนุญาตใหผูประกอบการรถบัส 4 ราย นำเขารถบัสเอ็นจีวีเพิมขึน ปัจจุบันราคาขายเอ็นจีวีอยูที 14.52 เปโซตอลิตรเทียบกับราคาแกซโซลีน ประเทศไทย เมือตนเดือนมกราคม นายโสภณ ซารัมย รัฐมนตรีวาการกระทรวงคมนาคม ใหสัญญาวาจะดำเนินโครงการเงินทุน 62.6 พันลานบาทสำหรับโครงการเชารถบัสจำนวน 4,000 คันเพือใชในการคมนาคมทีกรุงเทพ นายชัยรัตน สงวนชือ ผูอำนวยการองคกรขนสงมวลชน (ขสมก)กลาววาตอนนีกำลังรอรัฐบาลชุดใหมทีจะตัดสินใจวาจะยังคงมีโครงการเชารถบัสนีอยูหรือไมหากไดรับการอนุมัติ ทาง ขสมก จะเริมตนเปิดประมูลหาผูประกอบการทีสามารถจัดสงรถบัสได 80% จากจำนวนรถทังหมดไดภายใน 1 ปีและทยอยสงมอบรถทีเหลือไดในอีก 6 เดือนถัดไปประเทศเวียดนามไดเขารวมในธุรกิจเอ็นจีวีในปีนี กลาวโดย นาย Duong Hong Thanh ผูอำนวยการกรมคมนาคม (DOT) เมืองโฮจิมินทโดยขณะนีมีรถบัสนำเขาจากประเทศเกาหลี 2 คันเพือนำมาดัดแปลงระบบ (Retrofitted) ใหใชเอ็นจีวี และรถบัสอีกกวา 38คันทีกำลังจะถูกติดชุดคิทสเอ็นจีวีในลำดับตอไป ขณะนีทางกรมคมนาคมเมืองโฮจิมินท วางแผนทีจะมีรถบัสเอ็นจีวี (OEM) หรือรถบัสดัดแปลงเครืองยนตเป็นเอ็นจีวีจำนวน 800 คัน ภายในปี 2011 และเพิมจำนวนสถานีจำหนายกาซรอบๆเมืองควบคูกันไปดวย.

February 2009 17

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February 200918

With the global economic downturnlurking around us, companies all overthe world are taking measures anticipating for a slow-down in 2009-2010 sales. Many analysts saidthat this year would be the most challenging year during this economicslump. Financing/banking, housing andautomotive industries are the first threeto feel the pinch. NGV segment withinthe automotive industry is also takingthe hit. However, thanks to vehicle conversion market—which is by far lessexpensive than brand new OEM vehicles and thus more affordable- we may hope that NGV population willcontinue growing in a good pace withinthe next two years. The question is,”How many additional NGVs can weexpect in year 2009-2010?” For at leastthirty cylinder manufacturers around theworld, the issue will be, “How manyCNG cylinders would be demandedduring the next two years?”

The editorial below is not an exhaustiveanalysis nor a conclusive answer to theabove-mentioned questions but rather aseries of facts and past projections/targets from the NGV segment that onemay use as one of many guidelines andtrends in the market.

The recent past NGV market The growthLooking at the growth of NGV adoptionin 2003-2008, number of vehiclesadded to the world fleet showed thatabout 900, 000 NGVs per year wereadded during 2003-2006 with anexception in 2004 that had only 596,000new NGVs. In fact, during the last twoyears, almost 1.9 million more NGVswere introduced to the existing fleet.

The targetFew years ago, the InternationalAssociation for NGV (IANGV) projectedthat by 2010 about 12 million NGVs willply around the world, with a further pro-jection of 30 million by 2020. Due to thehealthy growth during the last twoyears, a more ambitious forecast wasset at 15 million and 60 million NGVs by2010 and 2020 respectively.

The type of vehicles and cylinder usageNowadays, there are more than 9.4 mil-

lion NGVs in the world, mostly poweredby CNG. Out of those, about 87% areLow-Duty Vehicles that mainly consistof passenger cars and at least 4% areHeavy-Duty Vehicles (HDVs, such asbuses and trucks). Each vehicle usesone to eight CNG cylinders, dependingon the type of vehicles and the gascapacity required.

Passenger cars/ LDVs commonly havetwo to four cylinders. In the conversionmarket, many LDVs have one to twocylinders. Meanwhile HDVs could beequipped with up to eight cylinders.

The cylinder producersAt least about 30 companies aroundthe world are producing CNG cylinders/tanks for vehicles. Those companies are established in severalregions such as in Europe, North andSouth America, and Asia. In Europethese cylinders are manufactured in, forexample, Austria, Czech Republic,France, Germany, Italy, Spain (for cryogenic), and the United Kingdom. InAmerica the distributors can be found inthe United State of America, Brazil,Argentina, etc. As in Asia, China, Indiaand Dubai, Iran, and Korea are the mainproducers. Singapore also has some

Global economic condition versus cylinder demand demand in 2009-2010

February 2009 19

CNG and cryogenic cylinderexporters/distributors*. However, amongthese 30 producers, only nine to tencompanies are capable to producemore than 100,000 units CNG tanksper year. Out of these nine to ten com-panies, at least four of those are Asian-based firms from India/UAE (EverestKanto Cylinders), China and two Koreancompanies.

Globally, it was estimated about 5.94million CNG cylinders were produced inthe recent past (in 2007 when 1.9 million NGVs were added). Out ofthose, only 1.7 million units were produced by 20 companies while 4.24millions were manufactured by thoseten biggest CNG cylinder producers.

The possible future-marketThe expectationIf we take IANGV’s original projection,from now to 2010, 2.6 million NGVs areto be added. Looking at the lowestexpectation, taking LDVs and usingthree cylinders as the basic requirement, then at least 7.8 millionsCNG cylinders are required.

On the other hand, if we use 750,000additional NGVs and four CNG tanksper vehicle as the reference figures forthe yearly growth calculation, then atleast 2.25 million cylinders are requiredthis year. So in 2009-2010, there couldbe at least 4.5 million cylinders sold inthe global market.

The example reference of 750,000NGVs used above as an example ofpossible growth in 2009 was taken fromthe average of the high end and the lowend in 2003-2006 of 900,000 and596,000 NGVs per year. While the threecylinders required per vehicle was calculated based on the past 2007 estimation of cylinder production (5.94million units) divided by the relatedannual growth of 1.9 million additionalNGVs in the same year.

Please consider that the real projectionmust consider the break down percentage of types of vehicles added(percentage of three-wheelers, cars,and other LDVs, Medium-Duty Vehicles,and HDVs) and the number of cylindersrequired by each type of vehicles (1-8cylinders of various sizes).

The buyersWhere can we expect the high demandfor NGVs and CNG cylinders? For now,

Iran is the answer. Despite of the current global economic condition, thisoil producing country has not yetreported any slow down in NGV adoption (or adjustment in target). Iranwas reported to have over 845,000NGVs by October 2008 and aimed toincrease the number to one million unitsby March 2009. So, about 200,000more vehicles are to be added fromOctober 2008-March 2009. Last year,the government announced they wouldconvert/add at least 20,000 vehiclesper month into CNG mode equal to220,000 NGVs per year. Government’sinitial plan--made before the global economic downturn took place-- is toconvert 600,000 public vehicles and to

replace 6,000 buses with NGVs during2008-2012.

Although some analysts said thatPakistan and India may be influencedby the security issues (bombingthreats), so far, the NGV segment is notaffected. The temporary shortage of gassupply in Pakistan usually lasts only forfew months during winter when gas ismainly allotted to housing segment; theissue is soon expected to be resolvednormally after February.

On the other hand, Indian vehicle manufacturers keep launching new

Continue to page 20

February 200920

CNG variants of their Low-DutyVehicles. The lack of gasoline supply inDelhi and Mumbai in January this yearcaused by oil workers strikes, which toa certain extent also affected CNG supply, was expected to be resolvedsoon. The Petrolieum Minister of IndiaMurli Deora pleaded to the officials tobreak their strike. In fact, the DelhiTransport Corporation (DTC) clarifiedthat there was no CNG shortage in theirstation. Furthermore, they increased theCNG bus fleet from 3,000 to 3,100units during this period to help thosewho are facing problems after gasolinepumps were closed. As per the beginning of the third week of January,some public CNG stations for the restof NGVs in Delhi were open too,although many were still closed. Thesole CNG supplier in the city,Indraprastha Gas Limited stated thatthey have "enough supply to cater tothe increased demand for CNG too''. InGujarat and Mumbai, the problem waspartly solved by January the 10th, followed by the normal supply of gasoline and CNG in several refuellingstations. Many more CNG stations areexpected to be opened soon.

Pune launched its CNG bus programmeby the fourth quarter of 2008 to facilitate the Commonwealth YouthGames with clean buses and to reduceair pollution. The Pune MahanagarParivhan Mahamandal Ltd operatesthese buses. Soon a number of auto-rickshaws and cars in Pune will beable to run on CNG too. TransportCommissioner and the RegionalTransport Office call for the installationof three-wheelers and four-wheelerswith CNG kits. About 40,000 vehiclesare expected to be retrofitted to CNGmode during the initial phase of PuneCNG project in which about 29 refuelling stations are targeted to bebuilt by the first quarter of this year.Bangladesh, which has 100% of its NGsupply coming from domestic resource,sells the gas at a very low price, Tk.16.75/kg (0.184 Euro/kg), about 40-60% cheaper than its South Asiancontenders, India and Pakistan. Indiasells CNG at Rs 18.90/kg-Rs 30/kg(0.290-0.460 Euro/kg, the latter is forCoalbed methane price) and Pakistan atRs 44.50/kg (0.418 Euro/kg). With independent and sufficient gas supply,low gas price, and no national securitythreats, Bangladesh could become one

of the most important NGV countries in2009-2010 providing that global economic recession will not affect thecountry too much. By beginning of2009, many owners of gasoline andsome diesel vehicles are still keen toconvert their vehicles to CNG mode.Apart from that, countries like Thailandand China remain as important buyersin this segment. Additionally, in an initialplan drawn before the global economicdownturn, Japan planned to introduce1 million NGVs by 2010 and Australiawished to power 10% of its total vehicles with Natural Gas within thenext ten years. Malaysia targeted toadd another 20,000 NGVs in 2009-2010. The Philippines governmentexpects to add almost 2,000 CNGbuses by 2010. With the organization ofAsia-Pacific NGV Association’s fair thisyear, ANGVA2009, we can expect that

South Korea will continue or even moreactively promoting NGV adoptions inthe country. See more story about CNGbajaj project in Indonesia in separatearticle in other page of the February2009 edition of this magazine. Other bigNGV countries such as Armenia andEgypt continues with their conversionprojects. Armenian NGV Association isworking actively towards a wider promotion and a more established regulations in favour of NGV segment.

Note: * The cryogenic cylinders are different from CNG cylinders as those areuse to transport and store NG in liquid form (LNG). The overview on “The cylinder producer” and the figuresprovided in this section are about CNGtanks manufacturers and productionunless it is stated that these are for cryogenic cylinders.

Continued from page 19

Above: Cidegas seamless steel cylinders. Below: Worthington CNG cylinders whilecarrying out an ultrasonic wall thickness test with a portable US device.

February 2009 21

For this special CYLINDER edition,Asian NGV Communications invited acylinder manufacturer in Asia to sendtheir opinion regarding CNG cylinderrelated issues. Below are RamaCylinders India’s comments on AsianNGV Communications’ questions onthe followings topics:• What is your product type?• What are your product features/characters in relation to safety issues?

Rama CylindersPresently Rama Cylinders is manufacturing Type I steel cylinders forNGVs and cascades. We also have aconcrete plan to set up a facility tomanufacture Type III cylinders withinone year from now. We can supplycylinders ranging from 20 litres in 232mm diameter to 198 litres in 406 mmdiameter that cope with all internationalstandardisations such as ISO 11439,NZ 5454, ISO 9809 and EN 1964. Wehave been successfully supplying Iran,Pakistan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Myanmar,Thailand, Malaysia and Russia apartfrom local Indian customers. All OEMNGVs in India – like Tata, Bajaj,Mahindra and Mahindra, Force Motors– purchase CNG cylinders from us. We proudly state that we have beensupplying the gigantic 198 litres cylinders to TATA for their buses. We at Rama Cylinders take utmost careof our cylinders and suggest somemeasures for them. We hope that thesemeasures will be helpful for all to ensuresafety in cylinder usage.

1. Safety and carea. Clean the cylinders with clean clothand prepare history card for the cleaning activities.

b. Ensure that valve stem threads arewrapped with sealing tape before fittinga valve to cylinder neck with propertorque, i.e. 30 – 32 kilogram metre, byusing torque wrench.

c. Before attaching pressure regulatorto cylinders, it is necessary to removeforeign particles or moisture from thevalve seal. It is necessary to make surethat the threads on regulator fitted tocylinder valve connector, are properlymatched and tightened. Jointing compound should never be used.In other applications, sometimes oilbased solutions were used to fill up thefine gap between male-and-femalethreads to prevent any leakage for

thread fitment. But this is not applicablein this case. As CNG is explosives andif it comes in contact with these typesof Jointing compounds then there arechances of explosion. Hence Jointingcompounds should never be used.

d. Cylinder, valves, regulator and otherrelated parts shall be kept away fromoily hands, gloves and gases (especiallyfrom explosives).This is applicable when cylinders areemptied and not mounted and fittedinside vehicle. Also same conditions areapplicable in the case of valves andregulator.

e. If regulator becomes frozen, it shouldnot be thawed in hot water or by flame. As this issue related to safety precautions for Regulator, users shouldcontact to the manufacturer or servicescenter to solve to this matter.

f. Cylinder fitted in vehicle should bebraced and secured to prevent move-ment (from falling down or when vehi-cle incidents takes place).

g. While operating, system (cylinders)should not be charged beyond maximumrated pressure. i.e. if working pressure is200 bar then cylinders should becharged no higher than 200 bar.

h. When received for filling, all cylindersshall be checked by filler to see if theyare due for periodic re-testing.

i. Condemning of cylinders:Any cylinder which fails to pass periodicexamination or test or which loses in its

tear weight by over 5% or which for anyother defect is found to be unsafe foruse or after expiry of the service life ofthe cylinder, shall not be filled with anycompressed gas and shall be destroyedby flattening it as a whole or after beingcut into pieces in such a manner thatthe pieces cannot again be joinedtogether by welding or otherwise toform a cylinder, under information to theowner of the cylinder.

2. Water contentThe single most important requirementof CNG is a very low water content ordew point temperature to preclude theformation of liquid water at any time.

a. Controlled at the fuelling station outlet

b. Should be sufficiently below the lowestambient temperature in which fuelling sta-tions and vehicles will operate

c. Condensation of water should notoccur in the storage container at itsmaximum operating pressure.

3. Sulphur contentTo odorise the gas, sulphur compoundsare added. This gas is odorised as asafety measure so that leaks can bedetected by consumers.

Sulphur compounds are harmless atlow level, but can cause customer complaint due to excessive gas odour.When hydrogen sulphide was formed(see more at point “4. Corrosion” below)this substance is considered as dangerous.

4. CorrosionLiquid water is the precursor to the formation of corrosive compoundsthrough combination with componentsin natural gas, namely carbon dioxideand hydrogen sulphide. The combination of corrosive agents,and the pressure cycling, caused byfuel consumption and subsequent refilling, can result in crack growth inmetal storage containers. Liquid wateritself, even in small quantities, may alsocause blockage, both by liquid andfreezing (solid) in the fuel system of thevehicle that could bring about drivingproblems.We at Rama Cylinders believe that CNGusage all over the world should beencouraged in terms of subsidies toCNG components and lower gasprices. This will make the world cleanerand greener.

Safety and handling according to cylinder manufacturers

By: Yash Kolhatkar, Marketing Manager of Rama Cylinders,yash@ramacylinders.in

February 200922

Everest Kanto Cylinder Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is anatural gas consist of a mixture of mainly methane (90-92%) plus differentother gases It is abundantly availableunder the earth in many countries. It is called Green Fuel due to its lowemissions when used in internal combustion engines in vehicles.

In comparison to gasoline, natural gasis flammable, has high calorific valueand offers saving in terms of fuel consumption. Its fuel energy conversionratio is about 1.4 litre of gasoline equalto 1 kg of CNG. This means that CNG

can give 40% extra mileage in additionto the cost saving and in most of thecountries CNG is sold 30- 60% cheaperthat the cost of gasoline. CNG is made bycompressing natural gas to less than 1%of its volume at standard atmosphericpressure. It is stored and used in hardcontainers (cylinder), at a normal pressure of 200–220 bar. Usually it is transported in pipelines at alower pressure and compressed at thepoint of distribution. In the EKC’s virtualpipelines, CNG is conveyed in JumboTubes at high pressure to the point ofdistribution.

The following cylinder types areapproved and commonly used according to the most widely knowninternational standard ISO: 11439 foron-board natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs)

• CNG Type 1 cylinders are metallic andcan be made of any alloy of steel or aluminum that meets the qualificationrequirements outlined in the relevantdesign standard.

• CNG Type 2 cylinders have metal liner(as defined for CNG 1 Type) partiallyreinforced with resin-impregnated continuous filament (circumferentialhoop wrapped)

• CNG Type 3 cylinders have metallicliner generally aluminum that is totallyreinforced with resin impregnated continuous filament (fully wrapped)

• CNG Type 4 cylinders have non-metallic liner typically a thermoplastic material that is totallyreinforced with resin impregnated continuous filament (all composite).Metallic bosses of stainless steel andaluminum are used to accept PRDsDriven by growing concerns over environmental pollution and the unrelenting hikes in fossil fuel prices,world natural gas vehicle population isprojected to reach 19.14 million units bythe year 2012 according to New Reportby Global Industry.The Safety of CNG Cylinder is the mostimportant concern of CNG driven automotives. ISO: 19078 has definedthe procedure for inspection of cylinderinstallation and re-qualification of high-pressure cylinders for on-boardstorage of natural gas as a fuel for automotive vehicles. Some of the topicscovered include: defining the types ofcylinders, required marking informationas per ISO: 11439, authorized inspection body, inspection equipment,cylinder valve and pressure relief deviceinspection, inspection interval, conditions requiring immediate inspection, background manufacturerinformation before inspection, cylinderacceptance and rejection criteria, damage evidence by visual inspectionfor corrosion, cuts, scratches, gouges ,material loss, impact or accidents, deterioration of surface materials etc,chemical attack, weathering, over-pressurisation and misuse of cylinder, installation and mountinginspection, disposition of condemnedcylinders, conditions and usage that

February 2009 23

may warrant frequent inspections, considerations for hydrostatic test andinternal inspection. The challenges regarding the safetyissues related to the use of CNG cylinders in many Asian, African andCIS countries are more pronounced dueto non availability of enough local specific standards and regulatory systems for first hand inspection andre-certification of CNG cylinders in use.We, Everest Kanto Cylinder (EKC), recommend the following basic precautions to be observed by regulatory and purchasing authorities.

1. Conduct a thorough check on thetechnical documentation of the potentialcylinder suppliers. The documents to beverified include technical file, thicknessdesign calculation using the formula asdefined in the relevant manufacturingstandard, review of their Process Chartand Quality Assurance Plan, review ofthe raw materials used including origin,source and type of raw materials, reviewthe Prototype Test Certificates as definedin the relevant manufacturing standard.

2. Ensure that the cylinder suppliers have,at least, an ISO: 9001 quality systemscertification which is one of the precondition& prequalification as per ISO: 11439Cylinder Manufacturing Standard.

3. If possible, depute the technical teamto visit manufacturing plant of the supplier or nominate a third partyinspection agency for detailed audit ofthe process and quality systems of thesupplier.

4. Assess the production capacity, reliability, major references and trackrecord of accomplishments of prospective supplier.

5. Evaluate the technical knowledge,competence, professionalism in providing an efficient pre and after-salesservices on installations, Valves & PRD,re-qualification and re-certification ofCNG cylinders. Many retrofit workshopsand dealers pay minimum attention to theabove pre-requisitions. CNG cylindersform most important component in thewhole system of CNG vehicles from safety point of view. Ignorance and shortcuts in selection and safe handling ofCNG cylinder may cause serious avoidable accidents, which may jeopardizethe growing potential of CNG business.

www.ekcuae.com

By C. P. Batra,Marketing Directorof EKC International FZE, Dubai

February 200924

The author, Eng. Waleed Samir,Managing Director of Clean Power forNatural Gas s.a.e, Egypt

essence of the standardization, not onlydescribes how the product should bemanufactured, but also offers technological details regardingadvances in the quality of materials,quality systems of production, production methods and computerizednon-destructive inspection technology.

The characteristics of theISO11439 – the optimization ofthe product by the applicationOne of NGVs users’ main concerns isthe weight of the fuel storage system inthe vehicle. In industrial applications, cylinders aredesigned to provide an infinite life,which in addition makes the weightincrease considerably. Industrial cylinders remain in service until theyeventually fail, or are disapproved inperiodic tests or visual inspection. This is not the case with CNG cylinders.The goal of ISO 11439 was to provideCNG cylinders designed for a specific

Much has been said about the standardISO 11439, the latest norm used forCNG cylinders which is also consideredas the highest standard for safety.However, little is known about itsessence and why it was created.Like many regular activities in the modern world, the growth of NaturalGas for Vehicles has required from international institutions the developmentof rules and standards to regulate theactivity itself and specially the productsinvolved.The market for CNG then presented ahuge challenge: how to build a light andsafe high pressure cylinder for NGVs.The ISO, “International Organization forStandardization”, which is a chain ofInstitutes for standardization composedof 148 countries, has won this challenge by developing the ISO11439:2000, “high pressure cylindersfor storage, on board, for CNG as a fuelfor vehicles”. The ISO 11439:2000, following its

Cylinders for NGVs manufactured underthe ISO 11439, a safe product

period of life, considering the standardlife-time of a vehicle.

Performance under the applicationThe second concept presented in theISO 11439 is the detail requirements forcylinder performance. This is different andmore complex than those for industrialcylinders that typically specify the

February 2009 25

materials and their characteristics only.As for CNG cylinders for automotives,the performance tests will show thecylinder performance during its application (in service condition).Furthermore, following the result of performance test, high-strength materials can be used to get a furtherweight reduction in the cylinders.

Cylinder life-timeOne consideration in the design of CNGcylinders is the expected number ofrefuelling cycles. After certain amount ofrefuelling cycles, when compressed nat-ural gas is filled into the tank, cylindermay suffer from this pressure. The repeated cycles of pressurizationeventually would result in an increase ofcracks caused by fatigue of the materi-al. It was then defined that the minimumlife-cycle/filling cycle was from 10,000pressurization (about 10 years) to amaximum of 20 years or 20,000 cyclesof pressurization. To prevent undetected defects in thematerial that could cause a prematurefailure a non-destructive inspection isintroduced to ALL cylinders producedby scanning the surface of the cylinderwith ultrasound. Examples of premature

failures that need to be inspectedinclude ribbed or grooved, wall thick-ness less than the minimum require-ment, dent flats, double lamination,cracks in the external or internal surfaceof the cylinders.The requirements for test and designensure that IF a cylinder is used beyondthe stipulated life-time and a failure byfatigue occurred, the gas from thiscylinder would leak. So, the cylinder willexperience gas leakage, avoiding tankexplosion.

Final considerationsCNG cylinders for industrial applicationwere produced based on standardsthat specify the materials, manufactur-ing pressure, and the required pressure(which in general is much lower thanthe pressure required for CNG cylinderfor vehicles). Experience has shown thatthe cylinder for industrial purposes wasunsuitable for automotive applicationsdisregarding the resistance to ambientconditions or the required life-time.The ISO 11439:2000 was created tomeet the market needs in the CNGvehicle sector. It is done by developinga requirement to ensure the fabricationof an appropriate product that is safe to

use. Characteristics necessary for theproper performance of the system, suchas the definition of life-time and weightreduction, are described in the ISO.Another safety feature for NGVs is thatthe fuel storage (cylinder) used for CNGis by far much stronger than gasolinetanks. The design of the cylinders issubjected to a number of "severeabuse" tests such as heat and extremepressure, gunfire, collisions and fire. The systems are also fitted with valvesand other safety devices to preventleakage and eliminate the risk of anexplosion - actually making them saferthan the legal requirements stipulated bythe local government of many countrieslike Egypt ,Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia,Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela,Peru, European Commission, Canadian,USA, and others.

See more information about ISO11439 athttp://www.iso11439.com/faq.phpand http://www.iso.org/iso/cata-logue_detail?csnumber=33298. Clean Air Net also offers the pdfverison of this standard. Check theirwebsite at www.cleanairnet.org.

February 200926

and dangerous substances;• General precautions• Special precautions against accidents;• Competent person to be in charge ofoperations;• Handling and use;• Restrictions on filling;• Loading, unloading and transport ofcylinders;• Storage and handling;• Electrical installation;• Purity of gas;• Cylinder subjected to the action of fire;• Ownership of cylinders;• Re-testing cylinders;• Owner’s record;• Conversion of cylinders.• IMPORTATION of cylinders (by sea,air, and land);• Examination and testing of cylinders(PERIODICAL TESTING AND CONDEMNING OF CYLINDERS);• Accidents and inquiries;• Types and standards of cylinders andvalves (from various countries frormAsia, Europe, North and SouthAmerica);

• Facilities required for cylinder testingstations;• LICENCES FEES;• FORMS to obtain licences;• Information on documents required forthe application of the import activities;• Etc.

To submit more information andinquiries regarding Natural Gas cylindersfor vehicles and fuelling stations, pleaseemail:asia@ngvgroup.com .

The Indian Ministry of Commerce andIndustry has released a report as guidelines on gas cylinders applicationsand importations in 2004. This IndianGas Cylinder regulations is available athttp://www.scribd.com/doc/2374663/Gas-Cylinder-Rules

The report consist of the generalrequirement on several topics such as: • Filling, possession, transport andimport of cylinders;• Regulations on valves;• Safety relief devices;• Marking on cylinder;• Marking on valve;• Identification colours;• Labelling of cylinders;• Restriction on delivery or despatch ofcylinders;• Repairing of seamless gas cylindersduring use;• Repairing of welded or brazed cylin-ders (what is not allowed);• Prohibition of employment of childrenor intoxicated person;• Prohibition of smoking, fires, lights

An example of gas cylinder regulations

February 2009 27

Below are some examples of CNGcylinder prices in and from variouscountries.Prices could vary per dealers or perconversion workshop. Apart from that,the basic price also depends on thecompany and country origin, quality and the type of cylinder (type 1-4 whichmade from different material and technologies). Cylinder type 3 andespecially type 4 is by far much moreexpensive than cylinder type 1 and 2.Cylinder type 4 is much lighter thanother cylinders (See more informationabout types of cylinders in Asian NGVCommunications January 2009 edition).At least 30 manufacturers around theworld are producing CNG cylinders forvehicles.All data below was obtained during thesemester half of 2008.

European cylinders withprices per unit cylinder:• 50 litre water capacity (volume) type 1or type 2: 150-200 Euro• 90 litre (composite): 800 Euro

Pakistan prices per unit cylinder:• 50 litre: Rs 17,000• 55 litre : Rs 22,000

Bangladesh prices per unitcylinder:• 60 litre made in Italy (IT): Tk 40,000• 80 litre (IT): Tk 46,000• 90 litre (IT): Tk 47,000

• 28 litre steel cylinders made in China(CN): The 12,000 • 40 litre (CN): Tk 17,000• 60 litre (CN): Tk 22,000• 80 litre (CN): Tk 23,000• 90 litre (CN): Tk 32,000• 120 litre (CN): Tk 38,000-39,000• 55 litre made in Austria (AU): Tk 32,000• 60 litre (AU): Tk 33,000

Examples of cylinder prices

February 200928

hydrocarbons such as propane orbutane, no natural gas condensate (alow-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids) and often contains up to a fewpercent CO2. Gas contained in coalbed methane is mainly methane andtrace quantities of ethane, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and few other gases.Leaving CBM unused could be environmentally unfriendly. So, makinguse of CBM is better for the environment and offers an additionalmore-pure-NG resource. Asian countries such as India havealready started using CBM for vehicles.

Biogas/biomethaneBiogas on the other hand is made oforganic waste, such as biomass,manure or sewage, municipal waste,green waste and agricultural waste, andlandfill. The preferred biogas extraction/production system is the one

using the anaerobic digestion (usingmicroorganism in which the result willhave no corrosive-sulphur-content)instead of fermentation method. Biogas is a renewable and sustainableresource of CNG. Many European and North Americancountries already produce biogas forNGVs and industrial use. In Asia, biogasis produced in China, Korea, Nepal,Thailand, and other countries.In Europe, biogas is also known asbiomethane while in Asia some countries called it bio-CNG. Like common natural gas, biogas can alsobe liquefied into LNG. Biogas can bedirectly injected, and, thus, distributedthrough normal CNG pipeline infrastructure before being dispensed ata CNG refuelling station. For this distribution, no alteration in thepipeline or the refuelling stations equip-ment is required.

Nowadays, already more than 75 countries in the world have been usingnatural gas as vehicular fuel. Althoughthe majority of those countries commonly use Compressed NaturalGas (CNG) in their vehicle fleets, othertypes of natural gas are also used tofuel vehicles such as Liquefied NaturalGas (LNG), and hydrogen (made frommethane). However, there are also theless common alternative sources of NGthat were recently explored by severalAsian, European and North Americancountries, namely biogas and coalbedmethane (CBM).

Natural gasNatural gas is a fossil fuel that typicallyflows from wells under its own pressure.Natural gas is mainly composed ofmethane (CH4), although it may alsoinclude other gases such as oxygen,hydrogen, nitrogen, ethane, ethylene,propane, and even some helium. Duringthe extraction, it is collected by smallpipelines that feed into the large gastransmission pipelines.CNG is made by compressing naturalgas to less than 1% of its volume atstandard atmospheric pressure. It isstored and distributed in hard containers, at a normal pressure of200–220 bar (2900–3200 psi), usually incylindrical or spherical shapes.

Coalbed methaneAs we already know, CNG is a fossilfuel taken out from the earth or so-called gas field. CBM is a form ofnatural gas extracted from coal beds(methane adsorbed into the solid matrixof the coal). To extract the gas, a steel-encased hole is drilled into thecoal seam (100 - 1500 meters belowground). As the pressure within the coalseam declines, due to the hole to thesurface or the pumping of smallamounts of water from the coal bed,both gas and 'produced water' escapeto the surface through tubes. Then thegas is sent to a compressor station andinto natural gas pipelines.The presence of this gas is well knownfrom its occurrence in underground coalmining. It is called 'sweet gas' as itdoes not contain corrosive componentssuch as hydrogen sulfide, which is toxicand flammable. Unlike much natural gasfrom conventional reservoirs, coalbedmethane contains very little heavier

Alternative resources to natural gas supply

Sweden uses a lot of biomethane to power its NGV fleets. This fuelling station inMariestad City delivers locally produced pure biogas. CNG is offered only when thelocal demand temporarily exceeds the available biogas supplies.

Photo copyright of FordonGas Sverige AB

February 2009 29

The Malaysian Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) industry is entering aperiod of rebirth by attracting more interests from private usersand corporations. On 4th June 2008, the Malaysian retailinggasoline price was increased from RM1.92 to a staggeringRM2.70 per liter. This decision shot up NGV demand onconversion for both private and corporation vehiclesovernight. Having demand superceeded supply, it spurredan emerging market called NGV Malaysia. However so, thehigh gasoline price lasted about 2 months only. FromAugust 2008, the Malaysian Government gradually reducedgasoline prices from RM2.55, RM2.30, RM2.00 to RM1.80in December 2008. This is in response to the falling in global crude oil prices, US financial turmoil and local consumer pressure groups. NGV pump prices still remainat RM0.68 per liter equivalent gasoline. Over the following three-four months after the price hike,the demand for NGV conversion was high. It triggered anacute shortage of CNG cylinders and conversion kits. Theprices of cylinders and kits skyrocketed and importers weremaking huge amounts of profits. NGV conversion (installation) workshops had to run double shifts to meetdemand and all transactions were done in cash or Cash-on-Delivery (COD). Existing installers were making profit with highmargins, especially those workshops with substantial inventory of CNG cylinders and conversion kits. Following the demand rush in June – September 2008,the NGV industry attracted many interested parties.Workshops sprung up overnight and NGV banners wereflying around in an effort to attract customers. A simplestreet, like Kepong Road, started with no installer and endedwith 10 new workshops by the end of September 2008.Mostly are not licensed or in application of an NGVConversion license. This demand rush can be safely categorised as a spontaneous reaction to a 40% gasoline hike to RM2.70. As one installer stated, demands superceeded supplies. Buthe commented that these customers are the ones who couldhardly afford gasoline cost at RM1.92 and often skip vehiclemaintenance to save money, which could lead to a problemafter the vehicles conversions. Maintenance for all typeof vehicle with any type of fuel is a must.During the third quarter of the year, gasoline price wasleveled from RM2.70 to RM2.45 per litre.To sustain the market demand in the industry, a Fundamental Market Base forNGV business is required. Malaysia NGVindustry is operating without several foundationsto support a continous market growth.

Fundamentals building by MalaysianGovernment (a) Conversion incentivesMalaysian Government is providing a road taxdiscount of 25% (bi-fuel) and 50% (monogas ordedicated NG) to owners of old and brand-newNGVs. The industry stakeholders are expected topromote/advertise these incentives so that generalpublic will be informed accordingly and will converttheir vehicles to NGVs. CNG Cylinders are known to be tax free.

February 200930

Malaysian NGV market review in 2008

February 2009 31

(b) Enforcement for Safety (licensed installers)Since 4 June 2008, the number of installers increased to 128workshops. The Road Transport Authority has approved only 110installers, and many more are in application stage. It isexpected that the authorities will take necessary actionagainst illegal conversion workshops soon.All NGV advertisement in the country must be accompaniedwith the licensed details.

(c) Political WillpowerMore political support is expected in the promotion of the useof NGVs among the Malaysians. This is the most importantwillpower in a growing NGV industry. It is our hope that political willpower will arrive in the country in 2009. Hijau ispioneering this effort with University Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia France Institute (Automotive Campus), ‘Wakil Rakyat Kepada Gas Rakyat’ or ‘People’sRepresentatives for People’s Gas’ program in 2009.

Fundamentals building by oil companiesPetronas, a national oil company, currently is the sole builder of NGV infrastructure in the country. Petronas has courageously built 101 active stations. Petronas is constructing more stations to meet its target tohave 160 NG stations by end of 2009. In 2010, there will bean estimated 200 NG stations according to Petronas. The firm is keen to see about 60,000 vehicles to be powered by natural gas by 2010. This “clean” fleet is expected to mainly consist of public transportation such as taxis and public buses.

Fundamentals building by NGV installer companiesThe ingredient to successFrom the staggering RM2.70 to RM1.90 gasoline per liter,NGV installation companies went from sudden greatdemands to a very quiet market. The falling gasoline pricesstarted to reverse the demand and caused an overstockinventory of unsold cylinders and kits. A sudden awakening,Malaysian entrepreneurs are realising NGV business is not thebed of roses once thought. And, it is very susceptible toquick demand fallouts. However so, we have observed thatNGV business is determined beyond Fuel Price Factor (FPF)alone. The Malaysian NGV industry is driven by the followingfactors in all:• Fuel Price Factor (FPF) This factor can be viewed as an NGV Sales Accelerant. A

Continue to page 32

NGV Carburetor Mixer System Training Simulator

February 200932

Continued from page 31

major change in the retailing gasoline price in Malaysia, likeRM1.92 to RM2.70 per liter, led to demand frenzy. As pricesgradually came down, the demand fell as well. It had anaccelerative movement in conversion sales, and does operatein the reverse, bringing market fallouts too. Fuel price factor isa volatile and unstructured determinant in NGV business. Inthe event that any company uses FPF as planning barometer,it is likely that they will experience rapid rise and dramatic collapse in sales and conversion at the present time.

• Cash Flow Factor (CFF)This factor is more related to the health of the local economy.The Malaysian economy remains healthy amidst global recession, where money circulation is still happening withinthe economy. However so, commercial companies arealready experiencing poor cash collection against their invoices, while having an inflated cash outflow for daily operation expenses. It is expected that commercial fleet willconsider about NGV conversion, beginning March 2009, toexercise effective cost-cutting with their vehicles. ForMalaysian scenario, NGV provides a 60%-70% fuel savings incash terms for both commercial and private vehicles. UnlikeFPF, Cash Flow Factor is an extremely slow but a consistentdeterminant that can drive up conversion demand.

• Brand Name Factor (BNF)Brand Name Factor is mostly related to the reputation of acertain installation company. The company that is deemed tobe a good conversion company by name will attract a largenumber of customers. Nevertheless, brand name is an effort

of long-term planning, implementation and maintenance.Well-positioned brand name brings in customers by ‘pull’approach.

• Green Environment Factor (GEF)In Malaysia, Green Environment Factor should be ranked low-est as an NGV conversion determinant. The fuel savingsremains as top consideration over green environment. Any well-thought business plan will incorporate these factors.In reality, a long term business plan should incorporate ele-ments ranking as follows: GEF, BNF, CFF and finally FPF.

The right messageNGV must be safe. All related companies in this businessmust promote safety. In this endeavor, “Hijau Malaysia”, aconversion workshop, is actively promoting safety first to gainconsumer confidence in the use of NGVs, aiming at morerapid take-up rate. More stakeholders are anticipated to follow the example. Hijau Malaysia uses a slogan, which is“Hijau Always Safe, Hijau Always $ave”. It represents theenvironmentally-friendly aspect of NGVs as Hijau meansGreen in Malay. It also depicts the economical element withsymbol $ that refers to money savings.

By: Dr Xander Thong, President/CEO of Hijau MalaysiaTel. +6-03-6252 2322, fax.+6-03-6252 5255,http://www.ngv.com.my, http://www.ngvcommunity.com,

The first NGV related company to winthe SME Recognition Award in Malaysia

In December 2008, Hijau MOG, a licensed NGVinstaller in Kuala Lumpur, has won Small MediumEnterprise (SME) Recognition Award. Hijau is selected,shortlisted, interviewed, evaluated by 3 separate selection committees and accepted as a Winner forRising Star Award category.

For NGV industry, Hijau is the first and only companythat was awarded. It is a breakthrough for the industry.Rising Star Award Category is an award given to youngSMEs which have displayed great potential to becomesuccessful players in local and international marketplaces. They are companies that are on theverge of a breakthrough and will become successfulwhen given the necessary financial support, guidanceand nurturing.

Congratulation, Hijau MOG!

Follow up report on conversionmarket in MalaysiaAsian NGV Communications has published an article regarding safetyissue in the conversion market in theregion entitled “Safety first!”, on pages18 and 19 of the December 2008 edition of the journal. Conversion in Malaysia was also incorporated in this article. It contains,amongst others, the story of recentvehicle incident and the governmentregulation regarding NGV registration.

Following this issue, below we publishinformation on both of the above-mentioned issues provided byHaikal Zubir, the Head Operations &Technical Services of NGV Departmentof PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad, themain promoter/actor of NGV segment inMalaysia.

Malaysia Road Transport Departmentreported that 78 approved conversionworkshops and about 50 illegal workshops are currently active in thecountry.

The Road Transport Department is tak-ing action against illegal conversionworkshops. Regarding the statement about NGVinstallers in the country not beingrequired to state their license numberand expiration date, which induces illegal installers to take advantage fromthe condition, actually the requirementto state the license is enforced althoughsome installers do not follow the regulation.

The real issue here is that in Malaysia,any modification done to a vehiclewhich includes NGV Installation has togo through PUSPAKOM and RoadTransport approval --as also reported inthe December edition of this magazine.

However, some vehicles did not gothrough the process or their owners donot mind not going through theapproval process, hence sustaining thebusiness of illegal converters.

If they were to go through the approvalprocess, the authorities would be ableto detect an illegal conversion.

Regarding the two NGV incidents in

2008, further investigation shows thatboth LPG cylinder explosion incidentshappened due to the installation of LPGcylinders performed by the vehicles’owners.

Furthermore, it is true that the June2008 gasoline price hike had caused arush in the NGV conversion businessthus creating opportunity for the illegalconverters.

February 2009 33

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At first, CNG vehicles owners will be targeted as HCNGusers. However, before using this new fuel, the CNG vehiclesneeds to undergo a small modification in the engine. For CNG vehicles owners who wish to use of 100% hydrogen, they should replace their whole engine with a com-plete new one.

Three years ago, the government started its hydrogen programmes by revealing its National Hydrogen EnergyRoadmap, with the purpose of converting one million vehiclesto H2Vs by 2020. Additionally, it was forecasted that 1,000MW power plant will be using hydrogen as fuel. In the National Hydrogen Map, a whooping Rs 250 billion investment has been projected for creating requiredsupply infrastructure, including Rs 10 billion for Research &Development and demonstration activities.

Lal said that about Rs 1 billion from the ‘Hydrogen CorpusFund´ is available as starting financing, although more fundsfrom both public and private sector (oil companies) would berequired to meet the needs. The Hydrogen Corpus Fund was accumulated by the government for which Oil Industry Development Board hasalso contributed Rs 400 million funding. The rest was con-tributed by oil companies -- Oil and Natural Gas CorporationLtd. (ONGC), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) andIndianOil – which offered Rs160 million each plus a total Rs120 million given by (Hindustan Petrolem CorporationLimited) (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited(BPCL).

Hydrogen is regarded as one of the most friendly fuel as itemits water instead of polluted and harmful materials. Electroliser technology will be used to create purehydrogen fuel in India.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has scheduled to open India’sfirst hydrogen fuel-dispensing station in New Delhi in January2009. The station will offer a 20:80 mix of Hydrogen and CNG—socalled HCNG or hythane--to hydrogen vehicles owners. IOC invested Rs 50 million in this project and the sameamount of financing was offered by Ministry of New andRenewable Energy and the Ministry of Petroleum and NaturalGas. IOC's executive director for Research & Developmentdepartment R. K. Malhotra, informed that the company hasinitiated this project aiming at diversification of the energy mixin the country which ultimately would results in energy security in the future.

Chairman of Scientific Advisory Committee (Oil Ministry) M BLal stated that it would take about three to four years ofResearch & Development before the hydrogen vehicle projectwould really take off. Before the full implementation of theproject, many issues are still to be solved such as fuel production, storage and transportation.Although currently there is no automotive manufacturer offering hydrogen vehicles, soon India may see these vehiclesplying in the road as General Motors India confirmed thattheir next generation car will be equipped with hydrogentechnology.

A hydrogen refuelling station is finallyopened in India

February 2009 35

The State Transport Department is looking forward to releasing a new mandate for all small trucks in Delhiweighing up to 7,500 kg to run onCNG, including have been registered onnational permits. It is estimated thatabout 40,000 trucks would have to bereplaced by CNG trucks in the nearfuture.

About two years ago, the state government had issued a mandate thatrequires all new trucks being registeredon local permits have to be powered byCNG. With the new mandate, ALL smalltrucks must soon be powered by natural gas.

For the moment, small trucks runningon local permits have been granted justsix months for the conversion startingJanuary 3rd. The transport departmentis seeking Cabinet approval to includethose on national permits into thescope of the law, and this is expected

to come through soon. After the givensix months “grace” period, the transportdepartment will start enforcing the law,giving renewal permit only to CNGtrucks.

In the past, following the governmentdecision to replace diesel trucks withCNG technology, some trucks wereconverted. At that time, the result of the

conversion was not as expected. So, converting diesel trucks was considered as not a viable option fortruckers. Buying new CNG trucks isanother available option although theprice of these new vehicles is very high.

A better solution to conversion of thesesmall trucks would be a good solutionto this current issue.

Small trucks in Delhi to be powered by CNG

New executive director for IANGV (International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles)

The International Association for NGV(IANGV) has changed its secretarygeneral this year. Last December2008, Dr. Garth Harris retired from his position as IANGV’s secretary general and was replacedby Brett Jarman.

Harris has been with the IANGV since the beginning of the associationin 1986. He played a key role in theformation of the association and contributed to the expansion of NGVindustry around the world fosteringthe NGV/refuelling station growth,safety, product development and policy making.

After his retirement, Harris will continue working in this sector as aconsultant in relation to the harmonisation of standards processcurrently on the move.

Brett Jarman, the new executivedirector who replaced Harris’ position,

informed that the association’s priorities in 2009 include harmonisationof standards, an ongoing emphasis onCNG cylinder safety and handling, andsupporting industry members in formingnational NGV associations. He alsonoted that ISO 15500 regarding CNGfuel system components is currentlyunder revision.

Previously in June 2008, the presidentof the IANGV Rich Kolodziej said thathe was keen to see that the number ofnational NGV associations as well asNGV population will double during histwo-year terms from 2008-2010.Hence, he expects to see the numberof NGVs to grow from 8 to 16 millionduring this period.

Asian NGV Communications congratulates Brett Jarman on his new position as Executive Director ofIANGV and wishes Garth Harris a continued success in his new consultancy business.

Dr. Garth Harris

Brett Jarman

February 200936

Tel: +44 (0) 1895 457 553Enquiries to:

alternativefuels@halehamilton.com.

www.halehamilton.com

Dispenser ManifoldsPriority Fill ManifoldsPressure

RegulatorsRelief Valves & Manifolds

Dispenser ManifoldsPriority Fill ManifoldsPressure

RegulatorsRelief Valves & Manifolds

when it concerns safety issues such asthe evaluation of CNG cylinders,although the 3 weeks period requiredfor this evaluation is considered assomewhat too long. Adding to the hurdle is the time required to obtainlicenses and other documentationregarding ownership, which could last

for more than a month. Some of the bajaj drivers are reluctantto replace their old bajaj as the newones powered by CNG cost about Rp40 million, about twice the price of theold ones which cost around Rp 15-25million per unit. Price of some of spareparts for CNG bajaj is also more

The Jakarta City administration’s planfor phasing out old polluting bajaj (smallthree-wheelers), replacing it with moreenvironmentally-friendly CNG poweredones, did not go as fast as expected. The Jakarta administration’s intention toreduce pollution caused by 14,000 oldbajaj which use a mixture of gasolineand machine oil by upgrading 5,000units by end 2007 was not yet accomplished. The initial target was todistribute 500 CNG bajaj per month. So far, only 600 CNG bajaj are in operation. However, about 5,000 bajajdrivers were reported to be waiting toget these CNG vehicles. Due to procedural issues, it takes timebefore the vehicle is granted to ply onthe road. About 50 bajaj are waiting forthe complete vehicle registration while120 units are pending due to procedural technicalities according toTariono, the head of the bajaj association in East Jakarta. However,part of the bureaucracy is necessary

Five thousands CNG bajaj are still tobe adopted in Jakarta

Rs50 billion funding for CNG corridor andadditional financing for CNG locomotivesand buses

GAIL India Ltd will invest Rs50 billion in the next 3-4 yearsto set up a CNG corridor across the country, said company chairman U D Choubey. About 230 cities havebeen identified as retailing areas to get gas pipelines forCNG for vehicles and pipe cooking gas for households. On the other hand, Indian Railways plans to convert 200diesel-run locomotives into CNG ones. These locomotiveswill be powered by CNG supplied by Indraprastha Gas Ltd.

As central government agreed to introduce a rolling stockfund for procurement for all Bus Rapid Transit System(BRTS) buses across the Jawaharlal Nehru NationalUrban Reform Mission (JNNURM) cities, soon, BRTS isgoing to launch air-conditioned, beautifully-designed low-floored and eco-friendly buses including those powered by CNG. The JNNURM cities consist of 60 citiesincluding Ahmedabad.

For the procurement of these buses, the Union government will finance 35% of the cost for each bus inAhmedabad and 50% each for Surat BRTS buses. A better quality buses cost about Rs 7 million per unit.Central government has agreed to fund more than 19,000to 20,000 buses across the country.

February 2009 37

expensive and not readily available.However, those operating these vehicles enjoy some fuel saving. On the other hand, most passengersare enjoying and prefer going with CNGbajaj instead of with the polluting ones.It is cleaner and quieter. With less noisein the cabin, the passenger can chat.The new bajaj that has two cylinders--one CNG and one gasoline--is moreenvironmentally-friendly than the oldbajaj that uses a mixture of gasolineand machine oil. In general, using CNGas vehicular fuel means reducing carbon monoxide (CO) emission by70%, non-methane organic gas(NMOG) by 87%, nitrogen oxides (NOx)by 87% and carbon dioxide (CO2) byalmost 20%, below those of gasolinevehicles. For the drivers, operating these vehiclesmeans saving fuel cost as CNG ischeaper than gasoline and the newbajaj consumes less fuel. There is alsomore space in the new bajaj. The drivers have to pay more to rentthe CNG three-wheelers, but spendless on fuel and could charge passen-gers with higher fares up to 10-20%more, according to Wahyudin, a bajajdriver in Jakarta.

Following the previous government decision to replacethe polluted two-stroke autorickshaws with four-strokes CNGrickshaws, the representatives ofKarachi Taxi & Motor RickshawYellow Cab Owners Associationhave urged the SindhGovernment to guarantee measures for the provision ofthese “clean” vehicles.

According to the decision, thedeadline for converting two-stroke rickshaws into four-stroke CNG rickshaws isdue on 30 June, 2010. However, up to now the govern-ment has not launched any campaign through television or newspapers to invite the privatesector to provide the requiredengines, said president of theassociation, Hafiz-ul-HaqHassan Zai.

CNG auto rickshaw projectin Karachi City

February 200938

six CNG utilities by 2010 which includepossible stations near the Mall of Asiaalong Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City,and along the North Luzon Expressway.Meanwhile the Department of Energyhas also held a talk with IMW IndustriesLtd. regarding a study on the development of a CNG infrastructure for

the transport industry. IMW is capableto offer a complete turn-key CNG refuelling solution, aftermarket serviceand parts supply. Besides producingCNG compressors and dispensers, thefirm also offers a full line of heatexchangers, pressure vessels, solenoidvalves, filters and regulators.

This year, more CNG-powered busesare expected to be added to the “clean”fuel vehicles. Currently, there are 24CNG buses serving in the public transport in Manila City. The government expects to see 185 ofthese buses to ply in the city by the endof this year. Two more CNG stations areexpected to be built to facilitate thisfleet.The Chief of Energy Management andUtilization Bureau, Mario C. Marasigan,underlined that the government hasreceived commitments that bus operators would be able to increase thenumber of CNG buses to 50 within thefirst quarter of this year.Further target is also set. About 2,000CNG buses are expected to be in operation by 2010. On the fuelling sector, nine CNG stations are expectedto be opened by 2014, to serve about5,000 NGVs per day.Singapore-based Callandra LCNG FuelsCorp. earlier informed its plan to build

The Philippines to increase CNG busfleet and station network

Industrial Zone, Ba Ria – Vung Tauprovince, and gas from oil and gasfields of Vietnam, which will be pro-cessed at the Go Dau Industrial Zone inDong Nai Province in 2010 at a yearlycapacity of 50-70 million cbm, and theSouthwestern frozen warehouse in theHiep Phuoc Industrial Zone in HCM

City, which will open in 2012.The HCM City DOT will ask the localgovernment to create favourable policies for investors in this business.Vietnam is to enter NGV business thisyear, said Duong Hong Thanh, theDirector of Ho Chi Minh (HCM) CityDepartment of Transport (DOT).

The Ho Chi Minh (HCM) CityDepartment of Transport’s DirectorDuong Hong Thanh has announced aplan to operate two CNG buses in HCMearly this year. Two buses have beenimported from South Korea. Thesebuses will be converted to NGV technology soon. Later, 38 diesel buseswill be converted to CNG technology.Further target is set at 800 OEM and/orconverted CNG buses by 2011.The plan was made during a December2008 meeting among officials of theHCM City DOT, the Southern LiquefiedPetroleum Gas Company, and SunjinGroup from South Korea. Two naturalgas-fuelled buses have already beenimported from South Korea.Refuelling facilities will be built aroundthe city, with the Vietnam National Oiland Gas Group’s promise to provide 50million cubic metre (cbm) CNG in 2009and 100 million cbm in 2010.The country has three options of NGsources: the Dinh Co plant in Phu My

Eight hundred CNG buses for Vietnamin 2009-2011

February 2009 39

Associate High Pressure Technologies Pvt Ltd ofIndia is set to launching production in their modern facility to manufacture seamless steelCNG cylinders in Kandla Special Economic Zone(Kandla SEZ). The firm is a member of AssociateGroup Company, a multifaceted business bodywith almost a century of knowledge and experience in the industry.

Welcome on board “Associate” CNG cylinders The Associate High Pressure Technologies Pvt Ltd targetssectors where compressed natural gas is used in a wide variety of CNG on board applications.

The new production line of seamless steel cylinders would beused to manufacture cylinders of 232 up to 406 cm diameter,with water capacities of 20 liters – 200 liters for a variety ofon board applications.

Associate High Pressure Technologies Pvt Ltd intends to sella robust output of 480,000 cylinders to markets with growingCNG infrastructure, and mainly targeting Asia-Pacific including the Middle East Region, such as Iran, Pakistan,Bangladesh, UAE, Thailand, Malaysia and Commonwealth ofIndependent States (CIS in Europe) countries.The firm also plans to sell in other countries like Africa andBurma for which the Group has established a network ofoffices.

With an in-house advanced design division and manufacturing facility with high quality German machines andtechnology, the firm believes that it will deliver highest qualityproduct and high standard safety features to its customers,as well as it will ensure an on-time delivery commitmentacross any geographical boundaries.

Using state-of-the-art manufacturing and testing facilities,Associate’s cylinders strictly adhere to international qualitystandards, such as ISO 11439, NZS 5454, etc.

Advanced Research and Development, machinery and testingfacility, and a team of skilled and experienced workforcemake sure that every cylinder that leaves the firm’s premisesreflects the mark of safety and superior quality that theAssociate Group believes in.

Customer care is not merely one of the organisation’s departments. Instead, it is incorporated in all activities fromplanning to production and from sales to distribution.Understanding and taking the responsibility for customer satisfaction as well as maintaining fluent coordination amongdepartments so as to meet the required end result are someof the company’s characteristics.Associate High Pressure Technologies Pvt Ltd believes that

the best quality cylinders are a result of a top notch workenvironment. This vision has led to the creation of a setupthat is truly word-class in terms of location, infrastructure,machinery and manpower.

By: Aditya Agicha, Director, Associate High PressureTechnologies Pvt Ltd, India

www.associatecylinders.com

A new seamless steel cylinder manufacturer from India

BusinessCentre

Associate’s seamless steel CNG cylinder being shaped in thefactory

February 200940

Asian NGV statisticsNGV statistics

Notes:The numbers of NGVs in the "other vehicles" column in countries marked with * indicateuncertainties about fleet composition. In Bangladesh, other vehicles comprises of various typesof unregistered vehicles. About 146,235 NGVs consist of jeeps, buses, taxis, and passengercars have been registered while about 30-50,00 more still need to be registered. In the dataabove, about 34,000 unregistered vehicles have been included. In China it mostly consist ofheavy-duty vehicles and many more unregisteered NGVs are not yet included in this table. InJapan, among other vehicles are fork lifts, etc, while in New Zealand it includes tractors, etc.Pakistan was reported to have 50,000 three-wheelers.

Country

Natural Gas Vehicles Refuelling stations

VRAMonthly gasconsumption

(M Nm3)Last update

Total Cars/LDVs MD/HDbuses

MD/HDtrucks Others Total Public Private Under

construction

Fuel Prices

Country

Armenia 0,79 0,73 0,71 0,27 0,24 0,28Bangladesh 0,52 0,49 0,34 0,18 0,16 0,18China 0,65 0,61 0,60 0,28 0,25 0,29Egypt 0,19 0,13 0,08 0,06 0,05 0,06India 0,83 0,76 0,53 0,27 0,24 0,28Indonesia 0,55 0,44 0,61 0,23 0,21 0,24Iran 0,110 0,075 0,012 0,015 0,014 0,015Japan 1,39 1,31 1,19 0,68 0,52 0,58Korea 1,07 1,06 0,43 0,39 0,44Kyrgyzstan 0,60 0,70 0,26 0,23 0,27Malaysia 0,51 0,49 0,49 0,19 0,17 0,19Pakistan 1,75 0,62 0,45 0,40 0,46Philippines 0,89 0,87 0,22 0,20 0,23Russia 0,80 0,69 0,70 0,22 0,20 0,23Singapore 1,03 0,92 0,86 0,52 0,46 0,53Tajikistan 0,55 0,45 0,21 0,19 0,22Thailand 0,52 0,50 0,51 0,19 0,17 0,19Turkey 1,70 1,60 1,26 0,78 0,68 0,76Uzbekistan 0,49 0,34 0,34 0,11 0,10 0,11

PremiumGasoline(Euro/litre)

RegularGasoline(Euro/litre)

Diesel(Euro/litre)

CNG(Euro/Nm3)

CNG price equivalent perlitre gasoline

CNG price equivalent per

litre diesel

World review

Asia Worldwide

7612,348

2002 2.309.974 5.4822003 3.254.841 6.666 944.867 41% 1.184 22%2004 3.850.657 7.842 595.816 18% 1.176 18%2005 4.687.230 9.077 836.573 22% 1.235 16%2006 5.647.314 10.647 960.084 20% 1.570 17%2007 7.546.636 12.214 1.899.322 34% 1.567 15%2008 9.452.916 14.335 1.906.280 25% 2.121 17%2002-2008 Six years review 7.142.942 309% 6.732 123%

Cities with stations

Taiwan 4 4 1 1 April 2005Philippines 36 11 25 3 1 2 February 2006New Zealand 283 180 66 37 14 14 March 2007United Arab Emirates 305 305 0 0 2 1 1 March 2007Indonesia 2.453 1.755 238 210 250 9 9 3 March 2008Australia 2.453 130 1.263 1.060 146 127 19 130 March 2007Singapore 2.700 2.682 12 4 2 3 3 2 November 2008Georgia 3.000 3.000 4 4 December 2007Turkey 3.056 2.564 492 9 5 4 1 0,40 July 2008Kyrgyzstan 6.000 6.000 6 6 0,60 December 2007Tajikistan 10.600 10.600 53 53 4,13 December 2007Korea 17.123 247 16.538 338 121 121 13 June 2008Myanmar 22.821 2.902 18.290 4 1.625 37 37 October 2008Japan 35.720 13.778 1.417 19.312 1.213 327 294 33 674 September 2008Malaysia 40.248 40.067 170 11 101 99 2 10 January 2009Uzbekistan 47.000 47.000 43 43 4,25 December 2007Russia 95.000 18.000 8.000 35.000 34.000 224 199 25 13 8 24,00 October 2008Egypt 98.738 96.099 1.198 704 737 116 112 4 19 32,40 October 2008Armenia 101.352 69.971 9.831 19.626 1.924 214 9 205 8 23,80 March 2008Thailand 117.727 94.566 7.975 13.513 1.673 253 228 25 100 69,86 November 2008Bangladesh 180.000 117.229 3.233 8.355 51.183 296 6 290 13 21,36 November 2008China 336.500 212.000 104.500 1.100 18.900 1.250 834 416 230 1 October 2008India 821.872 315.200 12.000 715 493.957 325 6 319 60 52,00 March 2008Iran 846.169 839.957 6.200 12 637 547 90 668 October 2008Pakistan 1.900.000 1.849.960 40 50.000 2.430 2.430 200 November 2008Total 4.691.160 3.738.203 191.492 99.964 661.501 6.624 5.175 1.449 1.304 849 232,80 January 2009World 9.452.916 824.880 256.942 157.264 789.830 14.346 12.431 1.919 1.452 12.275 907,49 January 2009

yearNGVs NGVs Fuelling stations

Population Fuelling stations Increase Growth Increase Growth