Samuel Ee, Business Times 19 Feb 08;
Private sector should take initiative on more CNG refuelling projects: minister
SMART Energy officially opened its sprawling Mandai Link CNG refuelling station yesterday and the government hopes that more such privately funded projects will be seen in future.
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is pumped directly from Jurong Island to Smart's 5,700 square metre mother station - the biggest on the mainland. There, the gas can be dispensed to up to eight cars, two buses and two bulk transporters at the same time, with a capacity of up to 100 cars an hour. Previously, vehicles running on CNG had to travel to Jurong Island to refuel. Smart began selling CNG at its Mandai Link site on Feb 1. A week later, SPC also began dispensing CNG at its petrol station on Jalan Buroh.
At yesterday's ceremony, guest-of- honour Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, said that he would like to see the private sector take on more such CNG refuelling projects, just as Smart, the first company to do so, has done.
'We will try to encourage as much as possible the private sector to take up the initiative,' said Dr Yaacob. 'Where necessary, we will find ways in which we co-fund them but eventually we want the private sector to take this up on their own and build it up.'
Smart sells the CNG at $1.09 per kg. It takes a car with two 50-litre tanks about a minute to refuel, said Smart Energy general manager William Chua. Each tank can hold up to 10kg of gas and a two-litre car can travel up to 270km on 20kg of CNG.
Mr Chua said that same distance in an ordinary car would require about 30 litres of petrol at $1.90 per litre.
There are about 520 CNG vehicles on Singapore roads today, out of the total population of 700,000 or so vehicles (excluding motorcycles and scooters). Slightly more than half of these CNG units are taxis, of which Smart Taxi, Smart Energy's parent company, operates 100. The rest of the CNG vehicles are private cars and a dozen buses.
The bi-fuel cars can run on either petrol or gas. Most of the cars have been retrofitted here with conversion kits to allow them to operate on CNG. Only the Mercedes-Benz E200 NGT (Natural Gas Technology) cars are factory-fitted with the gas tanks and injectors.
'There is therefore considerable scope for more vehicles to switch to CNG,' said Gas Supply Pte Ltd (GSPL) CEO Tan Chin Tung in a speech. 'The potential impact of CNG vehicles on the environment should not be underestimated.'
Mr Tan called CNG an efficient and environment-friendly fuel that emits less carbon monoxide, less hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxides, and practically no particulate matter, compared with Euro IV diesel vehicles, which emit about 0.025g per km.
Smart has invested almost $12 million on the Mandai Link mother station because the company believes in the product, said Mr Chua.
'Even the big oil companies won't invest in a mother station nor such a huge facility,' he said. 'We are bold enough to take the first step because this is the way to go. As oil prices continue to rise, we need an alternative fuel - and CNG is it.'
Smart is planning to open another station in Serangoon North in September. The Mandai Link facility will supply this second site with CNG by trailer.
Pump up on CNG
First dedicated refuelling station outside Jurong Island opens
Sheralyn Tay, Today Online 19 Feb 08;
WHILE it may be early days yet for compressed natural gas (CNG) cars here, there has been a surge in demand for the environmentally friendly vehicles in recent months from both taxi fleet operators and individuals, as CNG suppliers set up more refuelling stations.
Yesterday, Smart Energy — an affiliate of taxi operator Smart Automobile — opened Singapore's first dedicated CNG refuelling station outside Jurong Island. The station in Mandai joins a smaller SembCorp Gas-run CNG operation at Jalan Buroh, which operates two CNG pumps at a tri-fuel SPC petrol kiosk.
Smart Energy's 10-pump station, which can serve up to 200 cars an hour, marks a "significant" step in the move to drive green, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim, who officiated at the opening ceremony yesterday (picture).
"We believe that when the infrastructure is in place, then the whole chicken and egg problem is solved. People can now proceed to buy CNG vehicles or retrofit and they can stay on the mainland to get their top-up," said Mr Yaacob.
Smart Energy plans to open another CNG refuelling station in Serangoon North by the end of the year, and SembCorp Gas is expected to launch two more stations in Bedok and Bukit Merah.
With more CNG stations in the pipeline, some taxi operators plan to expand their fleets. Smart's managing director Johnny Harjantho hopes to add 300 CNG taxis by year's end to the 180 in his 850-strong fleet that already run on CNG. He hopes to have a full CNG fleet by 2012. Prime intends to add 500 CNG taxis over the same period. SMRT is exploring the feasibility of CNG, while ComfortDelgro, whose fleet runs on Euro IV diesel, has no immediate plans for CNG conversion.
There are currently more than 500 CNG cars in Singapore, about half of them privately-owned. According to C Melchers, which installs CNG engines, demand has "boomed" since last August, a far cry from the "slow response" when it first started operations here in 2006.
While it costs about $3,900 to install a CNG engine, the investment can be recouped in about one-and-a-half years, depending on the car and fuel type. CNG costs about half the price of petrol and a 1.6-to-2 litre family car that travels 20,000km a year can yield savings of about $2,700 during the period, according to Melchers.
