Renewed effort to boost use of natural gas in cars
The Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO) will launch a Bt20 million campaign next month to boost the use of natural gas (NGV), especially in motor vehicles.
"We'll focus on car owners who are interested in having an NGV engine installed. Some of them have concerns about using NGV and we hope the campaign, which will explain how to make the changes, will ease those worries," EPPO director-general Metta Banterngsook said. As oil prices remain high, natural gas is increasingly being seen as an alternative fuel for motorists. A car owner spends on average Bt3.25 per km if they use petrol but the cost of using NGV is around 60 satang per km. But it costs about Bt40,000 to switch over to NGV. To complement the campaign, PTT Plc hopes to increase the number of NGV stations nationwide to 200 by the end of this year. Most of them will be in Bangkok and tourist destinations such as Hua Hin, Pattaya, Saraburi and Nakhon Ratchasima. Natthachart Charuchinda, executive vice president of PTT, said the company would target cars using eight financial institutions to distribute loans of more than Bt6 billion to finance the installation of NGV engines. PTT is due to contribute Bt4 billion to the loan fund while the remaining Bt2 billion will come from the energy conservation fund, he said. Natthachart said: "Soon PTT will finance the installation and then car owners can shoulder higher gas prices until they have paid for the installation costs. We're developing a microchip identification system to show gas stations which motorists have installed the engines with their own money and who is in debt to PTT for the operation. Once the system is ready, we can start the free installation project." The system is expected to be completed in November and available to car owners from December. To promote the use of NGV, PTT also plans to extend loans to participants from a Bt1 billion fund. Natthachart added that some car owners had complained that the financial institutions' lending controls were too strict. "If they come to us, they have to understand that they need to shoulder a higher interest rate," he said. The government is already encouraging taxis to convert from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, to NGV. Metta said the NGV engine installation could be completed in around five days and taxi drivers might not want to lose that much trade.
Energy Reporters The Nation
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