GAZPROM Germania together with the Polish bus manufacturer Solbus and local municipal transport companies are organizing a series of demo-runs of LNG-fuelled buses during April and May 2012.
Two Solbus Solcity buses will be servicing regular lines in several cities, available for the use of the general public. The initial list of host cities for the demo-runs includes Torun, Gdynia, Olsztyn, Warsaw and Katowice.
This pilot project aims to demonstrate the cooperation potential in LNG for transport, a new field of activity for GAZPROM. The event embraces all interested parties: GAZPROM Germania provides LNG and refuelling through a mobile unit; Solbus offers state-of-the-art LNG-fuelled city buses; and the municipal transportation companies have the chance to appraise the advantages of natural gas as economically effective and ecologically friendly fuel. In sum, the project will help create the synergies allowing all parties to develop a model for future cooperation quickly and effectively.
Liquefied natural gas at temperatures of between -161 °C and -139 °C can be used as a motor fuel and is as environmentally friendly as the established CNG (compressed natural gas), which already today is one of the most promising alternative motor fuels, offering savings on ever increasing petrol and diesel prices and 25 % lower CO2 emissions.
In addition to producing natural gas, GAZPROM also works to promote the use of natural gas as an environmentally friendly energy source with diverse applications. Together with partners, GAZPROM runs projects to further establish the clean, efficient utilization of natural gas as a motor fuel. GAZPROM is also investing in refuelling infrastructure that allows CNG- and in the future also LNG-powered vehicles to be used throughout Europe.
[mappress] LNG World News Staff, May 3, 2012; Image: solbus