Through the project entitled Boosting Energy Sustainable fuels for freight Transport in European motorWays (BESTWay), GAS NATURAL FENOSA has managed to complete 70% of the Atlantic Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Corridor linking Paris and Algeciras via nine refuelling points, which is aimed at supporting the widespread roll-out of this fuel for road transportation.
This latest progress on the BESTWay project was made possible by opening of one of the gas refuelling points in Jaen, in the municipality of Guarromán, which is highly significant due to the strategic location of this town in terms of freight haulage. Over the coming months, the other two remaining service stations will be launched to complete the BESTWay Project (in Madrid and Jerez).
In the context of this milestone, BESTWay organised a conference in partnership with the Mayor of Guarromán, Alberto Rubio, aimed at raising awareness in transport companies, businesses and individuals about this project and the advantages of natural gas in transport.
The Installations Operations West Manager at GAS NATURAL FENOSA and BESTWay Project Coordinator, Javier de Pablo, explained the project to over 50 people attending the event and said that it represents a boost for sustainable fuels in transport.
In his speech, Javier de Pablo stressed that the BESTWay refuelling stations “will incorporate advanced solutions for remote management and operation. Furthermore, ICT infrastructure is also being developed to provide services and applications that improve interoperability while guaranteeing public access to the station”.
This project is financed by the European Union through its Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which represents significant backing from the European authorities at a time when the penetration of VNG should reach 5% by 2020. Hence, such initiatives as the BESTWay Project are essential to building cohesion in this growth and reaching levels of maturity like those seen in the United States or China.
Some of the new features and technological advantages of BESTWay are:
- A major breakthrough in processes to identify and roll out value added services for transport companies, as well as improved logistics, quality and safety in CNG/LNG refuelling operations.
- It helps to implement new and feasible solutions for standardising and regulating the various European rules.
- It ensures inter-user operability at the service stations, such as the payment systems and operational and safety procedures.
- It fosters such factors as user identification at the pump (smart dispenser) for payment systems and loyalty, as well as station motorisation and control, streamlined operation, improved energy efficiency and support for maintenance.
- Design of a driver training and accreditation system to improve safety measures in LNG refuelling.Expert outlook
The conference was also attended by experts from the sector who examined the advantages of using natural gas as both a real solution for more sustainable mobility and an alternative way to improve air quality and reduce pollution.
Mª Ángeles Herranz, Long Distance Product Manager at Scania Ibérica, said that “transport is going through an important period of change and the key to that change over the coming years is sustainability. Natural gas, and mainly renewable gas, is one of the main options for the decades ahead, either exclusively or in combination with other alternative technologies”.
In turn, José María Chamizo, Natural Gas Business Development Manager at IVECO España, offered his outlook on the subject by talking about the commitment to CNG/LNG vehicles and the extensive range of sustainable vehicles offered by the company he works for. José María Chamizo said that “IVECO, as a pioneer in natural gas technology and with its recent product launches, has taken a major step forward by enriching its product range. This represents a breakthrough in our current energy transition process, of which the company I represent is proud to form part”.
Nere De Achurra, Commercial Manager of Volvo Trucks, explained her company’s commitment to looking after the environment and the benefits of LNG as a fuel. She said, “with these trucks, CO2 emissions are reduced by 20% and by 100% with biogas”. Volvo is the only truck manufacturer offering an LNG engine based on diesel technology. “For transport operations with a heavy payload and high average speed, such as regional and long-distance heavy transport, you need a high engine torque and strong power. This enables the trucks to meet the level of performance desired by any driver”, she said.
The conference also included an exhibition of vehicles and trucks powered by vehicular natural gas. Everyone attending the event was able to check out these vehicles and see how a car works on this fuel.
Vehicular Natural Gas
Natural gas is a real alternative that is helping to improve our oil dependence in all mobility sectors. GAS NATURAL FENOSA is the leading Spanish company in gas mobility services.
Vehicular natural gas is a real alternative that is helping to improve air quality in our cities, given that it cuts nitrogen oxide and suspended particles emissions, the main pollutants impacting human health, by more than 85% and 100%, respectively, and CO2, the main greenhouse gas, by 30%. Moreover, natural gas engines produce up to 50% less noise emission and vibration than diesel engines.
Beyond the environmental benefits, natural gas is a very competitive fuel from an economic point of view when compared with diesel and petrol, with savings of between 25% and 50% depending on the solution chosen.
Moreover, according to the Spanish Environmental Impact Assessment Association (EIA), proven reserves of conventional and non-conventional natural gas will last for 250 years, and in this sense its long-term availability is guaranteed.
Vehicular natural gas is experiencing exponential growth. In the last 10 years, the fleet of vehicles using this fuel has grown sixfold, and increased by 27% in the last year alone.
To support this expansion of natural gas vehicles, GAS NATURAL FENOSA is currently leading two projects: the aforementioned BESTWay Project; and the ECO GATE Project to build more than 20 gas refuelling stations along the Atlantic and Mediterranean Corridors of the road networks in Spain, France, Germany and Portugal. Furthermore, the multinational power company recently announced that it plans to double its number of refuelling stations between now and the end of 2018 to almost 100 gas refuelling stations throughout the country.