The Natural and bio Gas Vehicle Association (NGVA Europe) and the European Biogas Association (EBA) have recently released a roadmap brief that the duo says "unveils the contribution that g-mobility will play to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions moving rapidly towards carbon neutral solutions for a more sustainable future."
According to a joint statement, with g-mobility, (gas mobility) carbon neutrality, and air quality improvements are possible. The concept of g-mobility builds on the use of gas as a transportation fuel to enable cleaner mobility, low-emissions transport and efficient use of gas in passenger cars, trucks, public transportation, and ships.
It has vast potential to enable a cleaner future for transport, in which use of natural gas and renewable gas (also known as green gas, biomethane, renewable natural gas – RNG) contributes to decarbonisation and improved air quality compared to existing fossil fuels.
Renewable gas production is already standard practice, availability and the vehicle fleet is growing fast. Estimations on the future development of the European Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) market show a potential in reaching a fleet of 13 million units in 2030, a factor 10 increase compared to today’s situation. This will spread out on both the passenger car and the heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) sector.
The brief suggests that compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) is offering a real alternative to conventional diesel even for long distance haulage. Gas-fuelled urban bus and coaches will see a 33 percent market share whereas the freight transport sector is projected to reach a 25 percent market.
In parallel with this development, the production of renewable gas will increase too: in 2030 a conservative estimation shows a production potential close to 45 billion m3 (bcm) compared to today’s approximately 2 bcm. This will, theoretically, be able to supply the entire fuel demand from the 13 million unit fleet estimated to be around 30 bcm.
Nonetheless, NGVA and EBA estimate that by 2030 the average share of renewable gas used in the European transport sector will be around 30 percent, a very tangible contribution to decarbonisation: 30 percent renewable gas will provide a GHG emissions reduction of more than 45 percent compared to conventional fuels on a Well to Wheel basis. When considering the potential in using 80 percent renewable gas mix, a complete carbon neutrality can be achieved.
However, according to the duo, to reach 30 percent or higher renewable gas in the European transport sector, a legislative framework supporting all solutions is needed.
It is fundamental, that the legislative framework will maintain an open stage to all solutions: transport will need a clever integration of different technological approaches, including of course electrification, and we need to leverage on the best combinations of efficient engines and clean and renewable fuels. Under this perspective g-mobility results a key solution, able to immediately contribute to a faster acceleration towards a clean and decarbonised transport system.
