Straits Times 18 Feb 08;
WHAT IT IS
SINGAPORE'S largest compressed natural gas (CNG) refuelling station at 1 Mandai Link will be opened today. The station, operated by Smart Energy, will be inaugurated by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim.
WHY IT MATTERS
The new station will make CNG, which is much cheaper than petrol, more accessible to users. Singapore has only one other CNG station, located at tightly guarded Jurong Island.
The company plans to open another station in Serangoon North by August. Another CNG refuelling site at Jalan Buroh, operated by Singapore Petroleum Co, is due to open soon.
Besides being cheaper - one litre of CNG costs about 80c compared to $1.90 for petrol - CNG is also more environmentally friendly, producing 20 per cent less carbon dioxide than petrol.
JESSICA JAGANATHAN
Singapore's largest CNG refuelling station opens at Mandai Link
Channel NewsAsia 18 Feb 08;
SINGAPORE: Efforts are in the pipeline to lower the cost of converting cars to run on compressed natural gas (CNG).
Local company Smart Energy revealed at the opening of Singapore's largest CNG station at Mandai Link that it plans to talk to the makers of CNG conversion kits.
To encourage the use of CNG as a fuel source, the company wants to convince companies to lower the price of a CNG conversion kit, which is currently sold at about S$3,800.
Johnny Harjantho, group managing director of Smart, said: "We hope with the mushrooming of the CNG cars in Singapore, the cost can be brought down to maybe S$2,800 to S$3,000."
Mr Harjantho, who also runs Smart Taxis, said the company plans to add at least 300 taxis that run on CNG to its fleet each year, up from its current number of about 180.
To make Singapore environmentally cleaner, the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources is keen to adopt a new vehicle emissions standard called Euro 5.
Smart Energy opened Singapore's first mainland CNG station on Monday.
Besides the other station on Jurong Island, the company will also open a CNG station along Jalan Buroh in a few weeks and another in Serangoon North by the end of the year.- CNA/ac
