As a vehicle fuel, LNG (liquefied natural gas) has the advantages of high octane number, good anti-knock performance, low engine loss, low fuel cost, and good environmental performance compared with traditional fuel fuels. Therefore, in foreign countries, the research and development and application of LNG commercial vehicles have been vigorously promoted very early.
Mostly used in the field of commercial vehicles
Taking the United States and Germany as examples, the promotion of LNG vehicles has been going on for many years. It is understood that the LNG vehicles currently in operation are mainly commercial vehicles, such as urban buses, urban engineering vehicles, sanitation vehicles, and logistics and transportation companies. This is first because commercial vehicles have a large transportation volume and high utilization rate, and the price of natural gas is cheaper than that of fuel. Secondly, LNG vehicles have smaller pollution emissions. Compared with the large amount of particulate matter and noise pollution emitted by diesel engines, LNG vehicles are less polluting.
In the United States, the most LNG vehicles are currently used in logistics vehicles. In the promotion of the use of medium and short-distance heavy-duty trucks, LNG vehicles mainly use a single gas cylinder vertically placed on both sides of the frame, and can choose an ignition type combustion method. , you can also choose the hybrid compression ignition mode of HPDI (similar to diesel engines). For example, most of the short- and medium-distance vehicles used by UPS Logistics Group use HPDI. This diesel is gradually recognized by developed countries as a control type for pre-ignition compression ignition and ignition to ignite natural gas. As early as 2011, UPS purchased 48 vehicles. LNG trucks and put into the company in Ontario, California. At the same time, the New York City Department of Transportation also operates natural gas buses. And telecommunications companies Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. are also using gas-powered vans.
In Germany, a large logistics company, Hellmann Logistics, began trial use of LNG-fueled heavy-duty trucks in the fall of 2012, and carried out road transportation for 4 weeks. Since then, LNG trucks have also opened up the market for German LNG logistics suppliers.
Road tests have shown that LNG trucks can complete the task well. René Stocker, head of Hanhong Logistics, said that the trial proved that compared with diesel vehicles, LNG vehicles can reduce carbon dioxide emissions to a large extent, while other harmful substances (such as carbon particulates and substances such as nitric oxide) are almost negligible.
Natural gas trucks have become a new development trend around the world. Compared with traditional diesel trucks, natural gas trucks are more environmentally friendly, have lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower operating noise. Although the price will be higher than diesel trucks, in the long run From the point of view, the advantages of natural gas trucks will become more and more obvious in today's rising oil prices.
In addition to the United States and Germany, the development of natural gas vehicles in countries such as France, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal is also mainly concentrated on commercial vehicles, including buses, logistics vehicles and garbage trucks.
Policy guarantee LNG vehicle promotion
Similar to my country, the promotion of natural gas vehicles through policy support is also one of the means of some countries. For example, the purpose of promoting LNG vehicles is achieved by reducing taxes and providing subsidies. In Sweden, natural gas vehicles pay about 3,000 kroner (about 2,862 yuan) lower in road tax than diesel vehicles. In Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, from Monday to Friday, from 6:30 to 18:30, every vehicle entering and leaving the city must pay a traffic jam fee, but energy-saving and environmentally friendly vehicles such as natural gas vehicles can be exempted from the traffic jam fee. Save up to about 14,400 SEK. In Pakistan, the customs exempts all imported natural gas equipment, vehicles and modified parts from tax, and the taxation department also exempts natural gas vehicles from sales tax. In Bangladesh, the introduction of gas station equipment, modified parts and natural gas vehicles are exempted from taxation, and banks and leasing companies can provide loan support for modified natural gas vehicles. The Asian Development Bank once helped Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, to purchase 10,000 sets of natural gas vehicle modification parts and vehicle gas cylinders at one time. There is also Thailand, which not only implements preferential tax policies for natural gas original vehicles, engines and modified parts, the tax rate is first reduced from 40% to 20%, and finally reduced to 0%, and the Thai government will subsidize 10,000 yuan for each natural gas vehicle modified by an individual. Thai baht (about RMB 2122).
In the process of developing natural gas vehicles, Croatia has carried out new explorations in organizational form, providing reference for other countries. In 2009, Croatia established the "Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund Financing Agency". After the establishment of this institution, it mainly promotes the development of the clean energy vehicle industry through two measures. One is to improve the application of alternative fuels and fuel cells in passenger and freight transportation systems by managing bridge tolls and traffic jams, controlling the transportation of goods in cities and the construction of urban transportation facilities, thereby promoting the development of clean vehicle projects; LNG and CNG vehicles are preferentially used in commerce, public transportation services, taxis, driving schools and public service companies; support the construction of new LNG and CNG filling stations through financial means. The other is through a partnership with the Ministry of Oceans, Transport and Infrastructure, as well as the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Enterprise, on the Transport to Reduce Impact on Environmental Quality Programme. The main work of the plan is to replace the passenger cars, trucks and school buses that do not meet environmental protection standards, and to provide subsidies of 50,000 kuna (about 6,750 euros) for each vehicle through financing institutions.
The number of filling stations is small, limiting the application of LNG vehicles
As in my country, insufficient construction of gas stations is an important factor restricting the development of LNG vehicles. The United States is the second largest natural gas producer in the world, and the research and development of LNG technology has appeared in the 1930s. But according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of 2009, there were only 110,000 natural gas vehicles in operation in the United States. The United States has rich resources and advanced technology, but it does not have extensive applications for LNG vehicles. This is not unrelated to the only 66 LNG filling stations in 10 states in the United States.
A spokesman for a foreign engine company said that the petroleum fuel in use has a network of gas stations across continents, as well as natural gas, but it enters people's homes and the power industry through pipelines. The challenge now is to build a ubiquitous form of network similar to diesel stations. UPS spokesman Karla Gerhard Ross also said that converting 1,000 of the 17,000 heavy-duty trucks owned by UPS to LNG trucks is their long-term goal, and that the goal is now only due to "restrictions at the filling station. ".
It is understood that ENN Group, one of the largest private energy companies in my country, is aggressively promoting the infrastructure construction of heavy-duty trucks powered by natural gas in the United States. The background is that the abundant local natural gas resources will help the US transportation industry get rid of its dependence on imports. The situation of crude oil refining to diesel. The relevant person in charge of ENN Group recently said that the group has indeed started to build LNG filling stations in the United States, but in a new market and new field, there will be various variables in its development process. So this year's goal is to build 50 LNG filling stations.
It is worth noting that Clean Energy, the largest transportation natural gas provider in the United States, is also building a "American Natural Gas Highway" project, which will build 150 LNG truck filling stations on major transportation routes in the United States. And it plans to enter the entire downstream industry chain of natural gas vehicles, namely gas stations, transportation, taxis, airport transportation and municipal vehicle markets.
In fact, most natural gas vehicles on U.S. roads belong to government or corporate fleets with centralized filling stations. In a July 2010 report by an investment analysis agency in the United States, it was mentioned that a decision of American automakers such as General Motors to provide vehicles that can use natural gas in the domestic market, the natural gas supplier in the United States will also provide Support to help businesses convert fleet cars into natural gas vehicles and build natural gas filling stations.
Although the price of natural gas is cheap, the total cost of building LNG filling stations in the United States is not low, or comparable to that in China. According to market sources, the cost of each gas station in the United States is about 1 million US dollars (about 6.22 million yuan), and the cost of building a domestic station is about several million yuan. Jiang Yu, head of the international business of ENN Group, pointed out that the prices of gas stations in different parts of the United States vary significantly. In general, the cost is still higher than that in China, such as purchasing local equipment, hiring local personnel, and hiring local companies to do the work. Design and so on, the cost is higher than the domestic.
On the premise of utilizing abundant natural gas resources and advanced natural gas technology, Germany has promoted the application of LNG vehicles in its country by accelerating the construction of LNG filling stations. It can be said that the development of natural gas vehicles in Germany is mainly due to the high degree of close cooperation among stakeholders such as natural gas companies, governments and automakers. Data by the end of 2010 shows that Germany has become the country with the largest number of natural gas filling stations in Europe, reaching 900, and about 91,500 natural gas vehicles, mainly concentrated in urban heavy vehicles, including buses and garbage trucks.
