Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
18.4
Public buses are the most important NGV market segment in
Sweden, with a share of 11% of all registered medium-duty and heavy-
duty buses. The public transport authority in the south of Sweden,
Skanetrafiken, has the largest number of NGV buses, with the ambition
to become fossil free by 2020. The conversion of its city bus fleet is
almost complete and work has also come a long way in the intercity bus
segment. The long-term commitments of the Swedish Public transport
authorities are important collaterals in new biomethane investment
schemes (
#
Swedish Gas Technology Centre, www.sgc.se).
18.4 Extent and potential of the natural gas vehicle
world market
The world NGV market in 2011 comprised 14.5 million vehicles of all
classes. The top ten markets are dominated by LDVs, which to a large
extent are aftermarket conversions. The light-duty NGV market in these
countries is usually driven by the large price difference between natural gas
and gasoline. Diesel is often subsidized, which makes HDV applications less
interesting when the fuel cost advantage of natural gas is taken away. With
the exception of Italy, which has the longest unbroken use of NGVs in the
world ever since their emergence in the 1940s, the big markets are found
outside Europe. European governments do not use fuel subsidies to boost
their national markets, but instead have rather high taxation levels on fossil
petroleum fuels, with some exceptions for diesel in some market sectors.
Consequently, HDVs are more prevalent, especially if local emissions are an
issue. Thus, captive bus fleets play a major role in many countries. With gas
consumption corresponding to 20-30 LDVs, even a small proportion of
Search WWH ::
Custom Search