On November 19 afternoon, another NGV2014 South Africa conference took place, in which participants were able to get information about the most recent advances made by OEMs in the natural gas vehicle field, the available models, advantages and market evolution. The session was moderated by Raoul Goosen, Green Energy business specialist at the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
Theuns Naudé, Key Account Manager of Scania South Africa, went over the manufacturer’s natural gas vehicles portfolio and started mentioning the importance of facing the climate change, air quality and congestion issues in fast-growing cities. He said the solution is the replacement of fossil with renewable alternative fuels, whose use is rapidly growing. One of them is biomethane, and Scania offers Euro 6 gas engines, designed for all city and regional purposes, featuring operation on both CNG and LNG and up to 90% CO2 reduction with biogas. “The driver will not notice any difference between driving a gas or a diesel Scania vehicle, apart from the sound level which is considerably lower,” he added.
More than 4.000 natural gas buses and trucks from the manufacturer have been delivered so far to different countries around the world: Australia, Norway, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Spain, Estonia, Sweden, Island, UK, Iran, USA (engines). To get started with alternatives fuels, Theuns Naudé said long term policies and regulations are vital at both city and national levels, since heavy fleets represent a large proportion of emissions. “There are possibilities to quickly replace those vehicles, build volumes and reach scale advantages,” he concluded.
“Technology for Gas in Commercial Vehicles in South Africa” by Andrew Taylor, managing director of Cape Advanced Engineering (CAE), was the next paper presented to the audience of NGV2014 South Africa Conference. The company, which is committed to automotive, rail and marine natural gas mobility, delivered an early methane engine for buses in 1999 and has been involved in biogas projects since 2007.
“In 2012 and 2013 CAE conducted a natural gas vehicle fleet trial for the IDC in Gauteng but the major breakthrough took place in the 2014 C40 Mayors Summit, by introducing CNG and biomethane buses for Metrobus as part of a demonstration project,” he told the conference attendees. After that, he took a time to expound on dual fuel technology and some successful applications, in which 50% in fuel cost savings were achieved.
