The first speaker on the panel, Brenda Smith from Gas Adviser, Hong Kong, said: “There is an opportunity in the use of LNG, which is much more practical -in terms of volume- to be transported and can also distributed using CNG stations”.
“In this context, it is necessary to provide reliable stations with constant fuel supply to the end-user in public access stations. This can be easily implemented in North America and Europe with self-service stations that meet the safety standards”.
In turn, Rene Sanchez Medina, Head of Industrial Market and Energy Solution, Gas Natural Fenosa, México, said that even though in Mexico there is a good natural gas infrastructure, “it is needed to develop a CNG market.”
“Fenosa is working in that direction, investing on polyurethane, steel, and earthquake-proof pipes for distribution,” he added. Sanchez Medina also stated that “despite Fenosa’s business is based on gas distribution, the company is willing to invest in conversion workshops and refueling stations for any kind of vehicles.”
Finally, Dane A. Boysen, Program Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, US Department of Energy, United States, expressed: “The goal is to bring CNG to every house, as this would represent a positive impact on the reduction of 300 billion dollars destined to import oil every year. For this reason, the greatest opportunity is the light commercial duty segment, which currently consumes 60 percent of the fuel volume in my country.”
On this issue, he thinks that the challenge is to lower conversion costs to make them profitable to the end-user. In this regard, Boysen mentioned that companies like General Electric and universities as the one from the Oregon state are working on the design of new materials for manufacturing tanks, with the priority to make them smaller.
Photo 3: Brenda Smith
Photo 4: René Sánchez Medina
Photo 5: Dane A. Boysen
