Iran,
Pakistan,
Argentina,
Brazil and
China have the highest number of CNG run vehicles in the world. the
Asia-Pacific region, the Indian capital of
Delhi, and other large cities such as
Ahmedabad,
Mumbai,
Pune, and
Kolkata, as well as cities such as
Lucknow,
Kanpur,
Varanasi, and others. Its use is also increasing in
South America,
Europe, and
North America, because of rising petrol prices.
Africa Egypt is amongst the top 10 countries in CNG adoption, with 128,754 CNG vehicles and 124 CNG fueling stations. Egypt was also the first nation in Africa and the Middle East to open a public CNG fueling station in January 1996. The vast majority (780,000) have been produced as dual fuel-vehicles by the auto manufacturer in the last two years, and the remainder have been converted utilizing after market conversion kits in workshops. There are 750 active refueling stations country wide with an additional 660 refueling stations under construction and expected to come on stream. Currently the major problem facing the industry as a whole is the building of refueling stations that is lagging behind dual fuel vehicle production, forcing many to use petrol instead.
Nigeria CNG started with a pilot project in
Benin City Edo State in 2010 by
NIPCO Gas Limited.
NIPCO Gas Limited is a 100% subsidiary of
NIPCO PLC. As of June 2020, seven CNG stations have been built in Benin City
Edo State, with about 7,500 cars running on CNG in Benin City
Edo state. In Benin City
Edo state, major companies such as
Coca-Cola,
7up,
Yongxing Steel are using CNG to power their fork-lifts/trucks while Edo City Transport Ltd (ECTS) is also running some of its buses on CNG.
Kwale, Nigeria CNG stations were inaugurated by Mr. Abhishek Sharma, the head of marketing (Natural Gas) from
NIPCO Gas Limited in 2019.
Asia bus, operated by
BMTA in
Thailand.
China In
China, companies such as
Sino-Energy are active in expanding the footprint of CNG filling stations in medium-size cities across the interior of the country, where at least two natural gas pipelines are operational.
Vietnam In
Vietnam, the compressed natural gas (CNG) market is developing, driven by the demand for cleaner energy and domestic natural gas supply. Companies such as
PV GAS CNG (a subsidiary of
Vietnam Oil and Gas Group),
Gas South, and
CNG Vietnam are key suppliers, building transportation and distribution infrastructure for CNG to serve industrial and transportation sectors. Additionally, **Phuc Sang Minh Gas (JPS Gas)**, with its website at is also an experienced player in the gas supply industry in Vietnam, including compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The company has been operating since 2006 and contributes to the growth of the domestic gas market. Their turnkey solutions have made them the number one provider of comprehensive LPG, CNG, and LNG solutions in Vietnam.
Malaysia In
Malaysia, the use of CNG was originally introduced for taxicabs and airport limousines during the late 1990s, when new taxis were launched with CNG engines while taxicab operators were encouraged to send in existing taxis for full engine conversions. The practice of using CNG remained largely confined to taxicabs predominately in the
Klang Valley and
Penang due to a lack of interest. No incentives were offered for those besides taxicab owners to use CNG engines, while government subsidies on petrol and diesel made conventional road vehicles cheaper to use in the eyes of the consumers.
Petronas, Malaysia's state-owned oil company, also monopolises the provision of CNG to road users. As of July 2008, Petronas only operates about 150 CNG refueling stations, most of which are concentrated in the Klang Valley. At the same time, another 50 were expected by the end of 2008. As
fuel subsidies were gradually removed in Malaysia starting June 5, 2008, the subsequent 41 percent price hike on petrol and diesel fuel led to a 500 percent increase in the number of new CNG cylinders installed. National car maker
Proton considered fitting its
Waja,
Saga and
Persona models with CNG kits from Prins Autogassystemen by the end of 2008, while a local distributor of locally assembled
Hyundai cars offers new models with CNG kits. Conversion centres, which also benefited from the rush for lower running costs, also perform partial conversions to existing road vehicles, allowing them to run on both petrol or diesel and CNG with a cost varying between RM3,500 to RM5,000 for passenger cars.
Myanmar The Ministry of Transport of
Myanmar passed a law in 2005 which required that all public transport vehicles – buses, trucks and taxis, be converted to run on CNG. The Government permitted several private companies to handle the conversion of existing diesel and petrol cars, and also to begin importing CNG variants of buses and taxis. Accidents and rumours of accidents, partly fueled by Myanmar's position in local hydrocarbon politics, has discouraged citizens from using CNG vehicles, although now almost every taxi and public bus in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, run on CNG. CNG stations have been set up around Yangon and other cities, but electricity shortages mean that vehicles may have to queue up for hours to fill their gas containers. The Burmese opposition movements are against the conversion to CNG, as they accuse the companies of being proxies of the junta, and also their desire that the petrodollars earned by the regime should go towards the defense sector rather than towards improving the infrastructure or welfare of the people.
India In
India, there are over 4500 CNG Stations all over the country now as compared to 2014 when the country only had about 900 CNG Stations. The government is aiming to increase the use of CNG powered vehicles by setting up more CNG stations in the country, the aim is to increase the current number to 8000 CNG Stations in the next two years. As of December 2022, the state of
Gujarat has the highest number of CNG Pumps in the country followed by
Uttar Pradesh being the second highest and with
Maharashtra falling little behind the above regions.
Pakistan In
Pakistan, the Karachi government under the order of the
Supreme Court in 2004 made it mandatory for all city buses and
auto rickshaws to run on CNG with the intention of reducing air pollution. In 2012, the federal government announced plans to gradually phase out CNG over a period of approximately three years given natural gas shortages which have been negatively affecting the manufacturing sector. Aside from limiting electricity generation capacity, gas shortages in Pakistan have also raised the costs of business for key industries including the fertilizer, cement and textile sectors.
Singapore bus, operated by
SBS Transit in
Singapore.] In Singapore, CNG was once used by public transport vehicles like buses and taxis, as well as goods vehicles until 2018. During its heyday in 2008 onwards, more owners of private cars had sought interest in converting their petrol-driven vehicles to also run on CNG – due to rising petrol prices. The initial cost of converting a regular vehicle to dual fuel at the German conversion workshop of C. Melchers, for example, is around S$3,800; with the promise of real cost-savings that
dual-fuel vehicles bring over the long term. Singapore currently has five operating filling stations for natural gas.
Sembcorp Gas Pte Ltd. runs the station on Jurong Island and, jointly with
Singapore Petroleum Company, the filling station at Jalan Buroh. Both these stations are in the western part of the country. Another station on the mainland is in
Mandai Link to the north and is operated by SMART Energy. SMART also own a second station on Serangoon North Ave 5 which was set up end of March 2009; The fifth and largest station in the world, located in Toh Tuck, was opened by the UNION Group in September 2009. This station is recognized by the Guniness World Records as being the largest in the world with 46 refuelling hoses. The Union Group, which operates 1000 CNG Toyota Wish taxis then planned to introduce another three daughter stations and increase the CNG taxi fleet to 8000 units. As a key incentive for using this eco-friendly fuel Singapore has a green vehicle rebate for users of CNG technology. First introduced in January 2001, the GVR grants a 40 percent discount on the OMV (open market value) cost of newly registered green passenger vehicles. This initiative will end at the end of 2012 as the government believes the 'critical mass' of CNG vehicles would then have been built up. Due to reliability issues and lower ranges that CNG provided (as cited by users' feedback), refueling stations mostly concentrated in the western end of Singapore, the rising demand of greener solutions like hybrid technologies, led to its demise where both public buses and the last CNG taxis were on its way to being scrapped in 2018.
Europe In
Italy, there are more than 1173 CNG stations. The use of methane for vehicles, started in the 1930s and has continued off and on until today. Since 2008 there have been a large market expansion for natural gas vehicles (CNG and LPG) caused by the rise of petrol prices and by the need to reduce air pollution emissions. Before 1995 the only way to have a CNG-powered car was by having it retrofitted with an after-market kit. A large producer was
Landi Renzo, Tartarini Auto, Prins Autogassystemen, OMVL, BiGAs,... and AeB for electronic parts used by the most part of kit producer. Landi Renzo and Tartarini selling vehicles in Asia and South America. After 1995 bi-fuel cars (petrol/CNG) became available from several major manufacturers. Currently
Fiat,
Opel,
Volkswagen,
Citroën,
Renault,
Volvo and
Mercedes sell various car models and small trucks that are petrol/CNG powered. Usually CNG parts used by major car manufacturers are actually produced by
automotive aftermarket kit manufacturers, e.g. Fiat use Tartarini Auto components, Volkswagen use Teleflex GFI and Landi Renzo components. In
Belgium, CNG is a very new fuel. At the beginning of 2014 there were only 17 refuelling stations, all of them in
Flanders, but the number is now increasing rapidly. At the beginning of 2015 there were 29 refueling stations in Belgium, all of them in Flanders. As of January 2017, there are 76 active refueling stations in Belgium, most of them being in Flanders since only 7 of them are in
Wallonia or
Brussels. As a fuel and compared to petrol, CNG has an advantageous fiscal treatment with lower excises duties (although VAT is always paid). Since CNG, as a car fuel, is not totally exempted of excise duties, CNG cars do not pay a prime road tax to partially compensate the State for the loss of revenue. Instead LPG cars pay a prime road tax in Belgium, because LPG is totally exempted from excise duties. Since CNG is not totally exempted of excise duties, in Belgium it is allowed to connect a car to the home network of natural gas and to refuel the car from home. The purchase of CNG cars is not subsidised by the government, but by the Belgian producers and distributors of natural gas. Fiat and Volkswagen sell factory-equipped CNG-cars in Belgium. At the end of 2018 there were 11,188 vehicles running with CNG in Belgium. In
Germany, CNG-generated vehicles are expected to increase to two million units of motor-transport by 2020. The cost for CNG fuel is between 1/3 and 1/2 compared to other
fossil fuels in Europe. In 2016 there are around 900 CNG stations in Germany and major German car manufacturers like Volkswagen, Mercedes, Opel, Audi offer CNG engines on most of their models. Augsburg is one of the few cities that only run CNG operated public buses since 2011. In
Turkey,
Ankara municipality is increasingly using CNG buses, where numbers have reached 1090 by 2011.
Istanbul has started in 2014 with an order of 110 buses.
Konya also added 60 buses to its fleet the same year. In
Portugal, there are 9 CNG refueling stations as of September 25, 2017. In
Hungary, there are four public CNG refueling stations in the cities
Budapest,
Szeged,
Pécs and
Győr. The public transportation company of
Szeged,
Szolnok and some
districts in
Budapest runs buses mainly on CNG. In
Bulgaria, there are 96 CNG refueling stations as of July 2011. One can be found in most of Bulgaria's big towns. In the capital
Sofia there are 22 CNG stations making it possibly the city with the most publicly available CNG stations in Europe. There are also quite a few in
Plovdiv,
Ruse,
Stara Zagora and
Veliko Tarnovo as well as in the towns on the Black Sea –
Varna,
Burgas,
Nesebar and
Kavarna. CNG vehicles are becoming more and more popular in the country. The fuel is mostly used by taxi drivers because of its much lower price compared to petrol. Currently (as of July, 2015) the city of Sofia is rapidly renewing its public transport fleet with
MAN Lion's City buses running on CNG. Also, many companies switch to CNG cargo vans and even heavy trucks for their daily operations within city limits. In
North Macedonia, there is one CNG station located in the capital Skopje, but it is not for public use. Only twenty buses of the local Public Transport Company have been fitted to use a mixture of diesel and CNG. The first commercial CNG station in Skopje is in the advanced stage of development and was expected to start operation in July 2011. In
Serbia, there are about 20 public CNG refuelling stations as of August 2019. Four in the capital
Belgrade, and the rest in the towns of
Subotica (1),
Novi Sad (1),
Zrenjanin (1),
Pancevo (2),
Kruševac (1),
Kragujevac (1),
Cacak (2), and so on. Detailed list is currently available on CNGEurope Web site. In
Slovenia, there are four public CNG refuelling stations as of December 2018. Two in the capital
Ljubljana, and one each in
Maribor and
Jesenice. Additionally, at least 14 new refuelling stations are planned in all city municipalities by the end of 2020.
Ljubljana Passenger Transport operates 66 CNG fuelled city buses, as of May 2016. Its Maribor counterpart, Marprom has 19 CNG city buses in their fleet, as of October 2018. In
Croatia, there are two public CNG refuelling stations situated close to the center of
Zagreb and in
Rijeka. At least 60 CNG buses are in use as a form of a public transport (
Zagreb public transport services). In
Estonia, there are 11 public CNG refuelling stations – four in the country's capital
Tallinn, and one each in
Tartu,
Pärnu,
Viljandi,
Rakvere,
Jõhvi, and
Narva. From 2011 on, Tartu has five Scania-manufactured CNG buses operating its inner-city routes. In
Sweden, there are currently 90 CNG filling stations available to the public (as compared to about 10 LPG filling stations), primarily located in the southern and western parts of the country as well the Mälardalen region Another 70–80 CNG filling stations are under construction or in a late stage of planning (completions 2009–2010). Several of the planned filling stations are located in the northern parts of the country, which will greatly improve the infrastructure for CNG car users. There are approx. 14,500 CNG vehicles in Sweden (2007), of which approx. 13,500 are passenger cars and the remainder includes buses and trucks. In Stockholm, the public transportation company SL currently operates 50 CNG buses but have a capacity to operate 500. The Swedish government recently prolonged its subsidies for the development of CNG filling stations, from 2009 to 2012–31 to 2010-12-31. In
Spain, CNG is a very new fuel and the refueling network is being developed. In Madrid, the
EMT, uses 1915 buses running with CNG. At the beginning of 2015 there were 35 CNG refueling stations in Spain. Several car brands sell brand-new cars running with CNG, including Fiat, Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda among others. As of 2013, there are 47 public CNG filling stations in the
Czech Republic, mainly in the big cities. Local bus manufacturers SOR Libchavy and Tedom produce CNG versions of their vehicles, with roof-mounted cylinders.
Middle East Iran Iran has one of the largest fleets of CNG vehicles and CNG distribution networks in the world. There are 2335 CNG fueling stations, with a total of 13,534 CNG nozzles. The number of CNG burning vehicles in Iran exceeds 3.5 million. CNG consumption by Iran's transportation sector is around 20 million cubic meters per day.
North America is factory-built to run on CNG and it is available in several U.S. regional markets. es powered with CNG are common in the
United States such as the
New Flyer Industries C40LF bus in
Washington, D.C. shown here.
Canada Natural gas has been used as a motor fuel in Canada for over 20 years. With assistance from federal and provincial research programs, demonstration projects and NGV market deployment programs during the 1980s and 1990s, the population of light-duty NGVs grew to over 35,000 by the early 1990s. This assistance resulted in a significant adoption of natural gas transit buses as well. The NGV market started to decline after 1995, eventually reaching today's vehicle population of about 12,000. The various assets of Fuelmaker were subsequently acquired by Fuel Systems Corporation of Santa Ana, California.
United States bus is a New Flyer XN40 which runs on CNG. 70% of MARTA's bus fleet is CNG. Similar to Canada, the United States has implemented various NGV initiatives and programs since 1980, but has had limited success in sustaining the market. There were 105,000 NGVs in operation in 2000; this figure peaked at 121,000 in 2004, and decreased to 110,000 in 2009. In Texas, Railroad Commissioner David Porter launched his Texas Natural Gas Initiative in October 2013 to encourage the adoption of natural gas fuel in the transportation and exploration and production sectors. As of 2015 Texas is rapidly becoming a leader in natural gas infrastructure in the US with 137 natural gas fueling stations (private and public). Nine months into FY2015 Commissioner Porter reports Texas CNG, LNG Sales Show 78 Percent Increase Over FY 2014 year to date. Per Commissioner Porter The
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was running 360 CNG buses as early as in 2007, and is the largest user in the state. The
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York City currently has over 900 buses powered by compressed natural gas, with CNG bus depots located in
Brooklyn,
The Bronx, and
Queens. The
Nassau Inter-County Express (or NICE Bus, formerly New York MTA Long Island Bus) runs a 100% Orion CNG-fueled bus fleet for fixed-route service, consisting of 360 buses for service in Nassau County, parts of Queens, New York, and the western sections of Suffolk County. The City of Harrisburg, Arkansas has switched some of the city's vehicles to compressed natural gas in an effort to save money on fuel costs. Trucks used by the city's street and water, sewer, and gas departments have been converted from petrol to CNG. Personal use of CNG is currently a small niche market, though with current tax incentives and a growing number of public fueling stations available, it is experiencing unprecedented growth. The state of Utah offers a subsidised statewide network of CNG filling stations at a rate of $1.57/
gge, while petrol is above $4.00/
gal. Elsewhere in the nation, retail prices average around $2.50/gge, with home refueling units compressing gas from residential gas lines for under $1/gge. Other than aftermarket conversions, and government used vehicle auctions, the only currently produced CNG vehicle in the United States is the
Honda Civic GX sedan, which is made in limited numbers and available only in states with retail fueling outlets. An initiative, known as
Pickens Plan, calls for the expansion of the use of CNG as a standard fuel for heavy vehicles has been recently started by oilman and entrepreneur
T. Boone Pickens. California voters defeated
Proposition 10 in the 2008 General Election by a significant (59.8 percent to 40.2 percent) margin. Proposition 10 was a $5 billion bond measure that, among other things, would have given rebates to state residents that purchase CNG vehicles. On February 21, 2013,
T. Boone Pickens and New York Mayor,
Michael Bloomberg unveiled a CNG powered mobile pizzeria. The company,
Neapolitan Express uses alternative energy to run the truck as well as 100 percent recycled and compostable materials for their carryout boxes. Congress has encouraged conversion of cars to CNG with a tax credits of up to 50 percent of the auto conversion cost and the CNG home filling station cost. However, while CNG is much cleaner fuel, the conversion requires a type certificate from the EPA. Meeting the requirements of a type certificate can cost up to $50,000. Other non-EPA approved kits are available. A complete and safe aftermarket conversion using a non-EPA approved kit can be achieved for as little as $400 without the cylinder.
Deployments AT&T ordered 1,200 CNG-powered cargo vans from
General Motors in 2012. It is the largest-ever order of CNG vehicles from
General Motors to date. AT&T has announced its intention to invest up to $565 million to deploy approximately 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles over a 10-year period through 2018, will use the vans to provide and maintain communications, high-speed Internet and television services for AT&T customers.
South America , Argentina. CNG vehicles are commonly used in
South America, where these vehicles are mainly used as taxicabs in main cities of Argentina and Brazil. Normally, standard petrol vehicles are retrofitted in specialized shops, which involve installing the gas cylinder in the trunk and the CNG injection system and electronics. Argentina and Brazil are the two countries with the largest fleets of CNG vehicles,
Colombia had an NGV fleet of 300,000 vehicles, and 460 refueling stations, as of 2009. bodied
Mercedes-Benz O405NH running on CNG, operated by
Sydney Buses in Australia
Mercedes-Benz OC500LE running on CNG For a period of time,
Brisbane Transport in
Queensland, Australia adopted a policy of purchasing only CNG buses. Brisbane Transport has 215
Scania L94UB and 324 MAN 18.310 models as well as 30 MAN NG 313 articulated CNG buses. The
State Transit Authority purchased 100
Scania L113CRB, 283
Mercedes-Benz O405NH and 254
Euro 5-compliant
Mercedes-Benz OC500LE buses. In the 1990s,
Benders Busways of
Geelong,
Victoria trialled CNG buses for the Energy Research and Development Corporation. Martin Ferguson, Ollie Clark and Noel Childs featured on
The 7:30 Report raised the issue of CNG as an overlooked transport fuel option in Australia, highlighting the large volumes of LNG currently being exported from the North West Shelf in light of the cost of importing crude oil to Australia. == References ==