Er. B.M.Kohli
While world is moving fast in every technology and vehicle industry is also keeping pace by bringing all the new models in the market. Unfortunately more emphasis is on gasoline (petrol or diesel) which apart from having being a scarce commodity, causes lot of pollution in the atmosphere creating worrisome situation for the existence of mankind on Earth. The use of CNG (compressed natural gas) in vehicles is the better alternative. It can give some relief and is more environmentally clean and comparatively safer. Obviously due to lack of storage and distribution system this fossil fuel is taking much time since it needs absolutely different storage infrastructure. To win over this problem manufacturers brought dual fuel vehicles in the market as well . Its ability to disburse quickly, being lighter than air giving less chance of accumulation on ground and having limited range of flammability are the other plus points besides easy leakage detection due to its strong sulfur like smell. As it does not produce greenhouse gases is more environmentally clean alternative emitting very less concentration of carbon in the atmosphere. In India , Delhi Govt. under the order of Supreme court of India in the year 1998 made it mandatory for all city buses fleet and auto rickshaws to run on CNG by 31st March 2001 feeling the necessity to reduce growing problem of air pollution in Delhi. But due to some compulsions the order could not be implemented fully and the Govt. had to ensure the supply of lead free fuel , as is used in world class cities to overcome this problem to some extent besides changeover of auto rickshaws and Government fleet of buses to CNG . Out of 14.8 million World over ( in 2011) CNG used vehicles India has only 1.1 million whereas Iran topped the list with 2.86 followed by Pakistan with 2.85 million, Argentina 2.07 and Brazil with 1.7 million. Due to increasing prices of Gasoline after 2008 ,the CNG used vehicles are increasing very sharply @ 30 % annually world over. As per survey Iran possesses 2nd largest reserves @ 15.9 % next to Russia with 26.9 % and Qatar 14.3% , Saudi Arbia 4.1 % and USA with only 3.8 % of total known world reserves. Iran has also 2nd largest rate of consumption @ 435 gallons gasoline per vehicle per year after America . In spite of having 9700 Km gas pipe lines along total road length of 12000 Km , Iran could not achieve more than 50 % CNG conversion of vehicles because of the greater amount of space required for storage in vehicles although its 43 % of the total energy consumption is on Natural Gas and 55 % is on Oil products. Today, the biggest environmental problem in Iran is air pollution especially in Tehran. In Tehran producing about 1.5 tons pollutants and the carbon dioxide that is released from the exhausts of the cars is responsible for the high percentage of the pollution. More than 500 thousand out of more than two millions motor vehicles existing in Tehran are more than 15 years old and lack catalytic converter for refining the pollutants releasing from the exhausts. In Malaysia, it was introduced in 1990 by the Govt. After Govt. removed the fuel subsidies in June 2008 resulting 41 % hike , the CNG vehicles increased by 500 percent by the end of 2008. In Germany CNG generated vehicles are expected to increase to 2 million units of motor transport by the year 2020. Also in Egypt 7,80,00 have been produced as dual fuel vehicles by the auto manufacturers in last 2 years. At present the big cities of the world are exposed to very serious dangers arising from the pollutants and the automobiles are the main source of pollution in most-populated cities of the world. In this respect, Environment Protection Organization has acted more seriously. For preventing air pollution, the Organization has asked the automobile companies to comply with the standards including ECE1504 standard which later was changed to EURO1 standard. At present, Environment Protection Organization intends to enforce EURO2 standard which is the standard of European Union. According to experts , Russian cars daily contributes 14 million tons in terms of harmful substances and if converted to Natural Gas this load can be reduced to 2 to 3. Gas as a motor fuel has been used in more than 80 countries in the world and Russia in spite of having 26.9 % of its reserves is on 20th place for the use of gas fuel vehicles. In May 2013 Gas operated vehicles reached 17 millions in 80 countries and Russia with only 0.1 million. Realizing the necessity for both economic environmental effects , Vladimir Putin of Russia on 14th May this year , has announced comprehensive plans and adopt various measures to expand the use of Natural Gas as motor fuel and in other fields. China which has only 1.2 % of the Gas reserves had only 4,50,000 NGV in 2009 had planned to achieve 1 million mark by 1012, 1.5 million by 2015 & 3 million by the end of 2020 and emerged among top seven markets in the world. More and more research and financial resources are being utilized to develop and further improve to convert the gasoline engines to Natural gas due to the fact that Gas engines produce 20-30 % less carbon dioxide, 75 % less hydrocarbons and reduces 95 % of particle matter ( RM) emissions to make the world a little less polluted since 95 % fuel is consumed on roads and only 1 % on railways throughout the world. Economic experts have also worked out that CNG vehicles are much cheaper considering all the factors even involving all the aspects of lower cargo space of the vehicle due to providing extra space for storage. Besides CNG powered vehicles have lower maintenance cost when compared to other hydrocarbon fuel -powered vehicles apart from having higher flash point and low ignition temperature to make it sure not to lead to explosions.
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