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24-07-2007
Natural
gas has more potential as an alternative automotive
fuel in China than other fuels such as dimethyl
ether and bio-fuel due to its environmentally
friendly characteristics, the country's relative
abundance of gas reserves and the comparatively
easy process of converting conventional auto
engines to accommodate the fuel, an expert from
China's leading automotive energy conservation
laboratory told Interfax during the weekend.
"Natural
gas, which currently accounts for 1% of the
nation's total auto fuel consumption, has made
significant progress in recent years and already
outstrips all other alternatives fuels by scale
of application," said Ma Fanhua, assistant
director of the Tsinghua University-affiliated
State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and
Energy, on the sidelines of an industry form.
The
development of bio-fuel, which is processed
from biomass stocks such as corn, palm oil,
sugar cane and cassava, could be bottlenecked
by shortfalls in raw material supplies as well
as its apparent inability to meet the strict
national emission standards the country plans
to adopt, Ma said. China plans to adopt national
fuel standards equivalent to Euro III and IV
standards later this year and in 2010 respectively.
At
the same time, dimethyl ether, which can be
made from coal and which emits very low levels
of pollutants, is known for its high price as
well as the difficult process that must be undertaken
to convert conventional engines to allow them
to utilize the fuel.
Ma
added that the country is also technologically
ready to adopt Hydrogen Compressed Natural Gas
(HCNG), a blended fuel comprising of 20% hydrogen
and 80% natural gas. The fuel generates fewer
emissions than pure natural gas while providing
higher levels of power. While still in the experimental
phase, Ma expects that HCNG filling stations
will enter commercial operations soon.
Chairman
of the Australian-listed Eden Energy Ltd. [ASX:EDE],
Gregory Solomon, said that Eden Energy aims
to have at least one HCNG filling station capable
of handling 15 buses in operation in Beijing
before the 2008 Olympic Games.
Solomon
said that the company is ready to bring their
experience and mature technologies to new markets
such as India and China, and that it is just
awaiting government approval. The company is
also looking for Chinese partners to help advance
their operations within the country.
China
has adopted a strategy aimed at encouraging
the use of cleaner fuels in the country's soaring
number of cars. The total number of cars in
the country is expected to reach 130 million
by 2020, at which point they will consume around
250 million tonnes of oil annually, equal to
half of China's predicted oil demand at the
time.
In
1999, a cleaner-fuel working group was established
in conjunction with 13 government bodies. The
group designated 12 cities and regions as experimental
cites for cleaner fuel programs, including Beijing,
Shanghai and Sichuan Province. A further 16
cities were added to the list in 2003.
The
city of Guangzhou and southwestern Sichuan Province
have the two largest clean fuel application
programs.
Most
cars used in the country's clean energy program
can run on traditional fossil fuels as well
as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed
natural gas (CNG). One drawback of this approach
is that the multi-fuel cars are comparatively
low-powered and produce higher-than-expected
emissions.
Guangzhou
has adopted a different approach and ensured
that all of the city's cleaner-fuel vehicles
feature engines that can only consume LPG and
CNG, according to a report by the state-run
Economic Observer.
As
a result, Guangzhou is now home to 6,400 buses
and 16,000 taxis that are powered by LPG, representing
80% and 100% of the city's total number of each
vehicle respectively. Vehicles that use LPG
will be gradually be phased out and replaced
with vehicles that use only CNG.
In
the meantime, 60,000 CNG-powered vehicles and
190 CNG filling stations have been brought into
use in Sichuan Province.
Beijing
also has plans to convert 90% of its public
transportation vehicles over to CNG before the
2008 Olympic Games.
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