|
- More than 25,000 NGVs
- 289 refuelling stations
- 686 vehicle refuelling appliances
- Energy security and greenhouse gas policies playing increasing role
As of the end of September, 2005, there are more than 25,000 natural
gas vehicles (NGVs) in Japan, supported by 289 natural gas refueling
stations, 29 of which are service fleet and bus operators exclusively,
as well as 686 vehicle refueling appliances (VRAs).
NGV’s have primarily been promoted due to the solution of the air
pollution problem and to promote alternatives to crude oil derived
energy. As a result, NGV’s have become popular among heavy vehicles,
trucks and buses, where the diesel substitution produces the greater
air quality benefits.
In recent years, the social interest in greenhouse gas reduction has
risen with the coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol. Due to the CO2
benefits of natural gas vehicles, this has resulted in an increased
interest in NGVs for gasoline substitution, particularly among
passenger cars and light to medium duty vans.
Due to Japanese Government policy on the reduction of the greenhouse
gas, in addition to the existing green house gas reduction law, the law
concerning the rationalization of the energy use will be revised from
April, 2006. The main point of this revision is that the control
subject of this law expands into the transportation field (the
transportation business and the consignor ) from the conventional
factories. The revision of this law has been decided in the Diet
(Japanese Parliament) and the Japanese Government is reviewing the
detailed standard which is necessary to operate this law.
From the viewpoint of energy security, natural gas is playing an
important role to decrease petroleum dependence. With crude oil prices
increasing substantially in the past year, this has become especially
important. These price rises, along with the added advantage of
relative price stability, have made natural gas competitive in relation
to gasoline and diesel. Japan imports natural gas as LNG (liquefied
natural gas) and the pricing structures and longer-term contracts make
LNG pricing less volatile, thus making LNG an attractive alternative to
crude oil and its derivatives. In Japan fuel price depends on the
contract between the filling stations and the users, but prices
currently average around 125 yen/l of gasoline, 100 yen/l of diesel,
and 70 yen /m3 of CNG.
Japan’s strong automotive manufacturing sector produces a large number
of OEM (original equipment manufacturers) natural gas vehicles, The
presence of OEM NGVs in Japan means engine and emissions performance is
of an exceptional standard. Unfortunately, this also means that the
price differential between natural gas and diesel or gasoline vehicles
is relatively high. While mass market penetration of NGVs would bring
prices down, reaching that stage remains a problem for the industry
Despite the above challenge, by effectively using the policy of
Japanese Government concerning energy security and the global warming
problem, the NGV industry members in Japan are confident that natural
gas vehicles in Japan will increase in popularity in coming years.
Tamaki Yamada
Manager,Technical and Planning Section
Natural Gas Vehicle Project Department
THE JAPAN GAS ASSOCIATION |
