Rio de Janeiro presents CNG-diesel bus prototype

The first unit of the fleet will be presented May 10 and the launching will be attended by the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio Cabral, who strongly supports this initiative, through Rio Sustainable Transportation program, which seeks to reduce environmental pollution. In addition, the project can take advantage of an abundant natural resource in the region, which does not depend on Bolivia’s imports.

“City buses will be in full operation during major sporting events in the city, the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics,” stressed the president of the Latin American Association of Natural Gas for Vehicles (ALGNV, as in its Spanish Acronym), R. Fernándes, in an exclusive interview with NGVJournal.com.

Moreover, the businessman explained that the bifuel unit was created with the intention of promoting the transformation to CNG of other state fleets that can significantly reduce their costs due to “very competitive prices for natural gas compared with diesel” and that also will help to reduce emissions. In this sense, the savings reach 50 percent.

Regarding this last point, Fernándes said that the prototype will be monitored by the Laboratory of Science and Technology of Rio de Janeiro Federal University.

It is important to note that buses will be supplied by Ceg, gas distribution company in Rio de Janeiro, controlled by Spanish group Gas Natural Fenosa.