A first NGV station opened 24/7 in Toulouse, France

Toulouse is currently implementing its first NGV station, or a gas station for natural gas vehicles, which will be opened 24/7 for consumers. Toulouse is an excellent incubator towards introducing and popularizing this alternative fuel to the mass market since the city already has 249 buses propelled by natural gas, representing almost half of its public transportation services fleet.

In order to promote the development of this fossil fuel substitute for automobiles, Toulouse has concluded an agreement with GRDF (Gas Network Distribution France), official since last November 10^th. This agreement is in the scope of work of France’s Climate Plan. The official opening of the new natural gas station is expected for May 2016.

Natural gas vehicles: a growing sector with promising potential

Among their main advantages, natural gas vehicles are less polluting because they emit fewer emissions of not only CO2 but also nitrogen oxides (NOx). As such, NGVs emit 95% less NOx than gasoline vehicles and 50% less than diesel vehicles. Moreover, natural gas engines are much quieter, reducing sound pollution caused by cars.

In terms of performance, new technological innovations in NGVs made it possible to offer the same comfort as well as power comparable to a gasoline or diesel engine.

NGVs are already well implemented in Latin America and are slowly growing in Europe. Among others, Switzerland already offers a network of 140 natural gas stations. It remains to see if the rest of the world will follow the lead and slowly turn away from fossil energy and adopt renewable energies such as refined biogas and electricity in their automobile transportation habits.

Accordingly, remember that refined biogas can be used safely in any natural gas system, vehicle, or engine, since biogas and natural gas both mainly consist of methane.

Sources : La Dépêche, PressPortal, GreenCarReports (image)