For the September ’19 issue of LNG Industry, LIQAL’s CEO Jorg , explains how technological developments, along with an increase in distribution infrastructure, are enabling the transition from diesel to more sustainable alternatives such as LNG and bio-LNG.
The next station
The future is small scale, which is a big deal. Diesel must go. The transport sector wants to accelerate the decarbonisation of transportation fuel and reduce dependency on oil-based fuels. Why? Because there is no future for these polluting fuels. Strict environmental regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower fuel prices are the main drivers for providing a clean alternative to diesel. LNG is an attractive ecological and economic alternative for heavy transport and is well-placed to meet new supply demands.
The challenge is to act quickly and improve the availability of fuelling infrastructure for end users like heavy-duty trucks and ships. For companies like LIQAL, one way to achieve this is to go small.
Small scale LNG is the big thing for the future according to LIQAL. The Dutch LNG technology developer has seen a tidal change in the industry and firmly believes that LNG is the next station on the road to decarbonisation.
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Christian Strube, ŠKODA Board Member for Technical Development, explains: “Natural gas will play a key role in ŠKODA’s engine portfolio over the coming years in order to lower CO2 emissions. Our natural-gas engines are becoming more and more popular with our customers because of their low emissions. And anyone driving a ŠKODA SCALA G-TEC will in future also benefit from comparatively low fuel costs in many countries.”
The Spanish Gas Association (Sedigas) recognised SEAT for its commitment to natural gas as an alternative fuel
Alternatives to diesel are increasing in popularity on the fuel market as carbon dioxide emissions need to be reduced in Sweden and Europe. Several fuel companies are now investing in liquefied natural gas and biogas, thus planning to build many stations in the near future. One of them, Gasum, opened their first station in Sweden on Monday. It is their next step towards the 50 stations Gasum has planned in the Nordic countries. The new network of stations is a necessity in the transition to cleaner fuels for heavy-duty vehicles. Gasum has four filling stations for heavy-duty vehicles in Finland alread
SiTL brings together all the innovative products and services dedicated to the transport of goods, the logistics industry and the supply chain. In the fair are represented various areas of experience in freight transport: modal transport (road, maritime, rail) and specialized (temperature controlled, hazardous materials, urban…), information systems / RFID (software TMS and WMS), supply chain management, infrastructure, real estate, transport equipment (fuels, embedded systems, tires), robotics and intralogistics.
The new Leon TGI Evo – built at SEAT’s Martorell facilities – continues the success of the Leon TGI and Leon ST TGI but advances the technology to make it even more relevant to the market and further push the uptake of CNG-fueled vehicles. SEAT is at the heart of the CNG trend, with compressed natural gas variants of the Ibiza, Mii and recently released Arona pushing adoption, and now joined by the Leon TGI Evo and Leon ST TGI Evo.
The gas version of the new MAN city bus generation, which celebrated its world début at this year’s IAA Commercial Vehicles trade show in Hanover, features the completely new E18 engine series. Compared to its predecessor, the gas engine offers higher torque with lower displacement, making it both more powerful and more compact.
The all-new model offers a high level of active and passive safety, full-LED headlights and tail lights, plenty of space for luggage and passengers, as well as numerous Simply Clever features.
LNG is more and more used in the world as a fuel for heavy goods vehicles. Its main advantage in the transport sector – lower level of air pollution than diesel and significantly lower price – approximately up to 25 000 Euros a year per vehicle, which is a big plus for freight carriers. The importance of reducing air pollution has already become critical for the whole transport sector. Rather severe air emission limits, which until now were applied only to passenger cars, are according to the proposal of the European Commission on May 17, considered to establish also on heavy goods vehicles. In addition, Europe has set a goal to link cost of tolls with air emissions. All these steps are related to an ambitious plan of shifting the whole transport sector to cars with zero and low CO2 emission.
The new 1.5-litre engine in the ŠKODA OCTAVIA G-TEC has an output of 96 kW (130 PS) – 15 kW (20 PS) more than its predecessor. Thanks to variable intake valve timing with Miller cycle operation, it is also very efficient. In CNG mode, CO2 emissions are reduced even further, by around 25 per cent compared to petrol, with considerably lower nitrogen oxide (NOx) output and no particulate emissions. As a result, the ŠKODA OCTAVIA G-TEC complies with EU6d-TEMP, the most stringent current emissions standard, making it an eco-friendly alternative to cars running on conventional fuels.