Gas Natural Fenosa Participating in European Mobility Week

Gas Natural Fenosa of Spain said it is participating in the European Mobility Week.

The company manages five of the 12 currently operational LNG/CNG filling stations located on the main transport corridors in Spain, which enable the use of this fuel by goods transport companies.

Gas Natural Fenosa is working towards more sustainable mobility in road transport by driving the use of more efficient and sustainable fuels, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG).

Within the development of this fuel as an alternative for long-haul transport, Gas Natural Fenosa is leading the European GARnet project (Gas as an Alternative for Road Transport), whose objective is the creation of a network of Trans-European LNG supply stations.

The GARnet project analyses which are the best alternatives for the network from a technological as well as financial point of view. It has a total budget of 3.8 million euros and has received 1.9 million euros of funding from the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (TEN-T EA).

In order to carry out the study and validate the results of the GARnet project, seven LNG service stations, four fixed and three mobile, will be set up in Spain to test the technologies with the greatest potential for roll-out on a European level.

The stations will be located on some of the main European goods traffic routes, at such a distance that the lorries that use LNG can circulate without supply problems.

This project is established within the European Union’s objectives for road transport, which are aimed at promoting and harmonising safer, more efficient and less polluting services. In this context, liquefied natural gas is seen as a sound alternative for reducing transport-derived emissions.

Gas Natural Fenosa is a leader in selling compressed natural gas as an automotive fuel in Spain. The company has installed more than 30 supply stations, with a total supply capacity of 899 GWh/year.

A viable short-term alternative as a fuel for transport

The use of compressed natural gas as a fuel for transport contributes to improved air quality, as it reduces oxide and nitrogen emissions and suspended particles, the main pollutants affecting human health, by more than 85%, and CO₂ emissions, the main cause of the greenhouse gas effect, by up to 20%. Natural gas also reduces noise pollution, because a natural gas engine produces 50% less noise than a conventional engine.

Also, natural gas is a very competitive fuel from an economic point of view when compared with diesel and petrol, given that it can achieve savings of up to 30% with respect to the former and 50% with respect to the latter.

A total of 26 cities now have supply stations, including Madrid, Barcelona, Burgos, Salamanca, Seville and Valencia.

European Mobility Week

European Mobility Week, for which the Ministry for Agriculture, Food and the Environment is the national coordinator in Spain, is a campaign aimed at raising the awareness of political managers as well as citizens about the negative consequences of the irrational use of cars in cities, on public health as well as on the environment, and the benefits of using more sustainable transport methods such as public transport, bicycles and walking.

This initiative began in Europe in 1999 and has had political and financial support from the European Commission since 2000. It is held every year, from 16 to 22 September, undertaking activities to promote sustainable mobility and foster the development of good practices and permanent measures.

[mappress]
LNG World News Staff, September 17, 2013; Image: Gas Natural Fenosa