The Chinese government is expected to soon launch a programme to research and
promote the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a vehicle fuel as it attempts
to address the soaring number of cars clogging its roads and air pollution
clouding its skies.
Hou Fushen, an engineer working for both the National Clean Vehicle
Co-ordination Leading Group Office and the China Automotive Technology and
Research Centre, said the government would this month invite bids for research
work to develop LNG engines and vehicles, as well as factory contracts to build
newly designed engines and vehicles.
"The aim is to increase the technical level of LNG vehicles while decreasing
costs and emissions," Mr Hou said. "We're planning to do some technical research
and development work and demonstrate products, such as buses, in some cities."
The project is backed by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the
National Clean Vehicle Action Co-ordination and Leading Group Office made up of
more than 10 government departments.
New middle-class consumers in the world's fastest-growing vehicle market
bought 5.9 million new cars last year, more than the country's total vehicle
population in the 1990s and ranking it the second-largest car market after the
United States.
All those additional cars are guzzling an increasing amount of oil - of which
China heavily depends on imports - and accounting for a sizeable share of the
country's urban pollution problem. Finding new vehicle fuels not only addresses
environmental concerns but helps to diversify China's fuel consumption.
LNG is natural gas that has been super-cooled and compressed, turning it into
a liquid. It is transported in highly pressurised tanks and costs more than
natural gas delivered via pipeline. It is widely used as a power-generation
fuel.
Mr Hou says there are only about 300,000 gas-powered vehicles in China,
including those burning liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas
(CNG).
"CNG vehicles account for more than 50 per cent of that and I think
the number of cars using gas will grow very fast," Mr Hou said.
LPG, stored in canisters, is commonly used as fuel in taxis across Asia but
is more dangerous in case of accidents and less environmentally friendly than
CNG or LNG.
The cost of operating a vehicle on LNG compared with one burning CNG, LPG or
petrol will depend largely on the price at which China can secure LNG supplies
and the taxes that are applied to the fuel.
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