CNG use not feasible next year

CNG use not feasible next year

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Blue-sky campaigners may have to wait a bit longer for the
mandatory use of compressed natural gas (CNG) by public
transportation vehicles in the capital as a sufficient gas
network is unlikely to be seen next year.

Executive manager of the Jakarta branch of PT Perusahaan Gas
Negara (PGN) Subanendro said on Tuesday that the existing gas
network could only meet some 40 percent of gas demand.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, Subanendro
explained that only 268 kilometers out of 500 kilometers of steel
pipe across the city was compatible with high pressure gas, which
could funnel the fuel to the gas stations.

He said the existing gas pipes are located along Jl. Daan
Mogot, Jl Raya Pluit Utara, Jl. Raya Pluit Timur, Jl. R.E
Martadinata, Jl. Sunter Barat, Jl. Sunter Selatan, Jl. Yos
Sudarso, Jl. Kelapa Gading, Jl Raya Bekasi, and Jl. Pemuda.

Subanendro, however, stressed that the company had no plan to
invest to develop a new gas network, including the construction
of shorter pipes connecting PGN's main pipes with gas stations.

"The development of gas stations and the connecting pipes
should be the responsibility of the city administration and its
business partners," he added.

The mandatory use of CNG for public transportation was stated
in the newly endorsed Bylaw No. 2/2005 on air pollution control.
The bylaw is expected to be enforced one year after it was signed
in February.

As a stepping stone, the Jakarta administration, PGN and state
oil and gas company Pertamina signed last week a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) on a sustainable supply of CNG in the
capital.

Pertamina, as a gas producer, will guarantee the fuel supply,
while PGN is responsible for its distribution. The MOU states
that the city administration will act as the regulator.

According to Subanendro, the company and the administration
have commenced talks over the development of two gas stations in
Rawa Buaya, West Jakarta, and on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan in East
Jakarta, which will cater to the needs of 187 buses along Busway
corridors II and III, which will connect Pulogadung in East
Jakarta and Kalideres in West Jakarta.

He suggested the administration find investors to put in place
a "mother-daughter" distribution system, which he said had been
successfully developed in other countries using gas-fueled
vehicles.

"The administration should not depend on us alone to supply
the gas, it should combine the piping system with a "mother-
daughter" system, whereby the fuel would be transported by trucks
from major gas fuel station to the small ones that are not
covered by the piping system," he explained.

There are some 8,300 public transportation vehicles -- buses,
taxis, and minivans -- in the city. According to Pertamina, only
500 vehicles in the city use CNG purchased from the six CNG
stations still operational.