The transport industry is one of the most influential sectors in any country. It’s a prime responsibility of those who are into this industry to ensure the protection of the environment while keeping themselves at a profitable level. And, one of the strategies to ensure the same is- opting for cost-effective fuel alternatives to render the transport services. Here, CNG can be the best green fuel alternative that can take care of environmental as well as economic aspects. In today’s blog, you will explore how can be Compressed Natural Gas effective for the transport industry.
CNG Coming Up As a Clean Fuel Option
At present, the world has started to move from conventional fuel sources to cleaner fuel alternatives to save the environment. Among all the sustainable fuels, Compressed Natural Gas or CNG has come up as a remarkable contender, with its effectiveness in terms of cost, availability, and environmental-friendly aspects. It is deemed to be an ideal fuel alternative for the transportation sector at a global level.
In the year 2020, the transportation sector released around 16.2% of the global GHG emissions. In these statistics, the agriculture sector is at the front. Despite the energy needed for the vehicles’ manufacturing, this number highlights direct emissions from fossil fuels to continue transport activities. Now, 11.9% of these emissions are done from the road transportation sector with the main contributor involving passenger vehicles. As the transportation industry contributes approximately one-quarter of energy utilization globally, decarbonization of the sector would play a vital role in the transition of energy as well as climate change mitigation, with cleaner fuel sources like CNG.
Particularly, with natural gas becoming a very easily available fuel source for new developments globally, a price drop in this resource can be seen in recent years. Unlike other natural gas sources like LPG, Compressed Natural Gas offers refueling convenience- as no special equipment is needed to refuel the vehicle. This ultimately decreases the production cost of LNG.
In addition to this, CNG is an importantly more sustainable option than conventional fuel sources. Talking in terms of numbers, it releases 77% fewer particles, 11% less CO2, and 90% fewer nitrogen oxides. Isn’t it amazing? Moreover, it’s 35% cost-effective than diesel, 75% than petroleum. The best part is that CNG vehicles are working for you for a longer time than petrol-powered vehicles owing to reduced combustion residue.
7 Factors that Make CNG a Sustainable and Cost-effective Fuel Alternative for the Transport Companies
- Refilling Benefits
On average, every CNG refill saves approximately 30% as compared to traditional fuel sources like diesel. If you see it from a long-term view, you will realize that it makes for a huge saving amount. And, it’s a great deal!
2. Increased Price Stability Than Petroleum Options
Being a trucking company, cost evaluation in advance can give added advantage for your business. However, it can be difficult to do as fuel prices keep on increasing or decreasing from time to time. This fluctuation in fuel price cannot give a true picture of your monthly business expenses, particularly if your vehicles are powered by petroleum.
In this case too, Compressed Natural Gas is your savior. Yes, the prices of CNG gas are more stable than other fuel sources. This can eventually help you predict the business expenses and revenues rightly.
3. Tax Benefits for CNG Consumption
Trucking companies that have petroleum-powered vehicles have to pay a huge amount of money on account of excise and fuel taxes.
This issue is not present in the case of CNG vehicles. CNG isn’t a product of the petroleum sector, so companies that use CNG vehicles are exempted from such taxes, which makes for a considerable amount of saving annually.
4. Environmentally-Friendly Fuel Source
CNG is one of the environmentally friendly fuels on the market at present. Compressed Natural Gas burns cleaner as compared to petroleum owing to its reduced carbon content. It releases fewer emissions and has comparatively fewer pollutants than traditional liquid fuel sources. In numbers, CNG accounts for 20 to 30% less greenhouse gas emissions along with 95% fewer tailpipe emissions as compared to petrol products. Lastly, there are no evaporative emissions too owing to their sealed packaging. All these properties make CNG the best fuel for environmental protection.
5. Reduced Cost of Maintenance
A harmful component called lead is absent in CNG, which extends the life of the spark plug of a vehicle. Additionally, Compressed Natural Gas does not do any harm to crankcase oil which further extends the time between oil-change cycles. The pipes and mufflers of vehicles also enjoy extended life because CNG does not harm the metals. All these properties of CNG finally cut down the cost of maintenance while improving the life of vehicles.
6. Improved Vehicle Performance
CNG is better than petrol-based fuels because of its improved octane rating. Natural gas comes with an octane rating of approximately 127, which means it burns at a slow speed. This is why CNG vehicles work better and faceless knocking. These vehicles offer superior performance even under too cold or hot conditions.
7. Enhanced Safety
CNG fuel poses a reduced risk of leakage owing to its safer and strong tanks as compared to diesel or gasoline tanks. In case it got accidentally released, it doesn’t sit on the ground but evaporates into the air. This cuts down the risk of fire.
Additionally, CNG is less likely to automatically catch fire on hot surfaces because it comes with a high auto-ignition level of temperature i.e. 540° C, and a minimal range of inflammation i.e. 5 to 15%. In simple words, if CNG is released in the air to less than 5% and more than 15%, burning will not happen. Both these properties add to the enhanced safety feature.
Conclusion
CNG is slowly becoming famous as a perfect fuel source in many countries like Italy & Germany. The transportation market in South America, as well as Asia, is proactively using CNG vehicles. There are multiple reasons for their proactive usage of CNG, including cost-effectiveness, easy availability, and sustainability.
Editorial Staff at Bharat Software Solutions is a team of transport management system development.