CNG conversion: Learning from New Delhi
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Compared to Jakarta, the Indian capital, New Delhi has succeeded in encouraging public transportation vehicle operators to use compressed natural gas (CNG) to reduce pollution and relieve dependence on more expensive gasoline and diesel fuels.
All public transportation vehicles -- buses, taxis and three- wheeled motorized taxis (know here as bajaj) -- in New Delhi started using CNG or other clean fuels in 2001, thanks to consistent law enforcement.
The drive began in mid-1998, when the Indian Supreme Court issued a directive obliging the state-owned Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) to increase the number of CNG stations from nine at the time to 80 as of March 2000.
The directive also stipulated a time line for all programs that had to be carried out by both the country's central and state governments.
According to N.K. Verma, managing director of Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), the key to the success of the CNG program for transportation in New Delhi was that there was a legal obligation requiring vehicles to use CNG.
The legal obligation also required all city buses running in the capital to be converted to CNG after there were an adequate number of CNG stations. Bus operators had four years to prepare for the conversion of their fleets.
Other directives were that no buses over eight-years-old were allowed on New Delhi's streets unless they were using CNG or other clean fuels and all pre-1990 taxis had to be replaced by new vehicles on clean fuel. Financial incentives were also given for the replacement of post-1990 vehicles and taxis.
New Delhi also had a similar problem to Jakarta in the development of CNG as the city had a limited number of natural gas pipelines.
To overcome the problem, they devised the "mother-daughter" system with four types of filling stations.
At the "daughter stations", referring to stations where gas pipelines were not available, CNG is delivered via "cascades" (bundles of cylinders) attached to trucks. The cascades are filled up at the CNG stations, which are installed on gas pipeline.
Then there are the "daughter booster stations". These are also stations that do not have access to pipelines. The only difference is that a variable suction pressure compressor (booster) is installed in-between the mobile cascade and the dispenser.
The third ones are the online stations. Online stations are connected to the pipelines for continuous CNG supply.
And finally, there are the mother stations. These stations are similar to the online stations in configuration. The difference is these also supply the mobile cascade trucks.
With the efficient system, New Delhi has been able to expand the number of natural gas stations and at the same time the number of CNG-powered vehicles continuously increases.
Recent data shows that there are over 150 CNG stations now in operation, while, the number of CNG-powered vehicles is at approximately 50,000.
Meanwhile, in Jakarta, the number of both CNG stations and CNG-powered vehicles continues to decrease. In Greater Jakarta, there are only seven CNG stations still operational, compared to 17 a few years ago. The number of CNG-powered vehicles dropped from 6,600 in 2000 to just 500 last year.