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CNG bus cheaper than diesel equivalent

Annick Driessen, MindsinMotion.net <annick.driessenSPAMFILTER@mindsinmotion.net>

Tuesday 09 December 2008

The higher purchase price of CNG buses compared to diesel-powered ones, should no longer be an excuse not to choose CNG buses. A one-year comprehensive and realistic study into the costs of both types of buses, shows that the exploitation of CNG buses is actually cheaper by some 3,000 euros a year.

While the purchase price of CNGs is often the main reason not to invest in them, the exploitation costs, including maintenance costs, should be taken into account as well. Maintenance of CNG buses is so much more economic that when both types of buses run 70,000 kilometres a year, the CNG buses will save a company around 3,000 euros in total.

German consultants WIBERA AG – daughter of Price Waterhouse Coopers Germany – carried out the study that lead to this surprising conclusion. CNG buses of the Neoplan N 4521 type, low-floor articulated buses, were compared to diesel-fueled equivalents.

Mixing with biogas could turn CNG into a real CO2 champ. (Photo: MiM)

Regulations
Of course, economics are not the only reason to invest in CNG buses. Because of the new European CO2 regulations for the year 2010, bus companies need to find cleaner solutions. So-called ‘enhanced environmentally friendly vehicles’, or EEVs, should comply with the Euro V emissions regulations. CNG buses already meet these standards, as opposed to even the most modern diesel buses, according to Rainer B. Giesel, managing director information for Erdgasfahrzeuge Berlin.

NOx emission caused by CNG buses is 42 per cent less than that from comparable diesel buses. If bio natural gas is mixed in with fossil natural gas, CO2 emission decreases even further than with regular CNG.

And if European biofuel regulations were to be revised, as is often speculated these days, both the lower NOx emission and the economic gains of the CNGs still stand.

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Comments

CNG bus

Alberto Santel

Wednesday 09 April 2008

I completely agreed with the Annick propositions, above all because the experiences in Italy (Ravenna, Bologna, Firenze, Torino, Roma, Napoli, Palermo are the most interesting and in which have been involved a large number of busses) have confirmed the complete reliability of the vehicles, in term of costs and operations (remember: not all firms produce CNG bus with the same reliability and quality).
Two remarks:
to improve the performance of CNG, in term of CO2 emission's reduction, it's possible to mix CNG and H2, in very easy manner and without specific and complex filling stations;
to reduce maintenance costs it's possible to buy the first busses with "full service" contracts and to improve, step by step, the inside expertises and capabilities. In Italy a very important experience and a success story is the case of NAMET, a public-private company that manage the maintenance uf CNG busses of CTP (the public transport operator of the province of Naples).

Regards
Alberto Santel

Contrary to everything I have heard so far

De Graaf

Thursday 03 April 2008

This is the first time that I have heard this! I thought that CNG buses are a tad less reliable, forcing the transportation companies to operate more vehicles as a backup. Training of staff also seems to be quite expensive. Has this been accounted for as well? How has this been overcome?