Austria opens first biogas station for cars
Quicknote biogas as a transport fuel
Earlier we reported about Germany opening its first biogas tank station for cars, indicating that it means a shift in longterm biofuel strategies, away from liquid fuels towards gas. Sweden is Europe's leader on the front, with thousands of cars already utilizing the renewable green gas. Now Austria is following the example; by 2010, the Austrian government wants at least 50,000 cars on biogas.
Worldwide, some 5 million cars use CNG and they could all switch to biogas without modifications of the engine or the gas system. We present this info because the gas offers to be a promising alternative fuel for the developing world, where biogas can produced relatively easily and locally from waste streams and from dedicated biomass. In the highly developed world, biogas as a transport fuel is also seen as a stepping stone towards a possible hydrogen future.
In Austria, OMV opened the first station near Linz in Upper-Austria, and calls it a 'Bio-CNG' pump. OMV's CEO Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer told a press conference that the European Union wants natural gas cars to take up a share of 10% by 2020. Unlike natural gas, biogas is CO2-neutral and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, producing "almost no particulate matter", which is why it is being seen as an ideal fuel. Ruttenstorfer says biogas production costs are currently slightly higher than natural gas, but should come down when scale advantages are reached.
OMV's first station offers a mix of natural gas with 20% biogas. The pilot pump delivers biogas for 10 to 15 cars daily. By 2010, OMV wants to have a robust infrastructure with 80 tank stations ready for full use by thousands of cars each day. Biogas can be obtained from the anaerobic fermentation of organic matter, be it household or industrial waste, or dedicated energy crops. After purification, the green gas becomes of a quality comparable to natural gas, which allows it to be introduced into the natural gas grid.
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: biogas :: CNG :: Austria ::
Earlier we reported about Germany opening its first biogas tank station for cars, indicating that it means a shift in longterm biofuel strategies, away from liquid fuels towards gas. Sweden is Europe's leader on the front, with thousands of cars already utilizing the renewable green gas. Now Austria is following the example; by 2010, the Austrian government wants at least 50,000 cars on biogas.
Worldwide, some 5 million cars use CNG and they could all switch to biogas without modifications of the engine or the gas system. We present this info because the gas offers to be a promising alternative fuel for the developing world, where biogas can produced relatively easily and locally from waste streams and from dedicated biomass. In the highly developed world, biogas as a transport fuel is also seen as a stepping stone towards a possible hydrogen future.
In Austria, OMV opened the first station near Linz in Upper-Austria, and calls it a 'Bio-CNG' pump. OMV's CEO Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer told a press conference that the European Union wants natural gas cars to take up a share of 10% by 2020. Unlike natural gas, biogas is CO2-neutral and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, producing "almost no particulate matter", which is why it is being seen as an ideal fuel. Ruttenstorfer says biogas production costs are currently slightly higher than natural gas, but should come down when scale advantages are reached.
OMV's first station offers a mix of natural gas with 20% biogas. The pilot pump delivers biogas for 10 to 15 cars daily. By 2010, OMV wants to have a robust infrastructure with 80 tank stations ready for full use by thousands of cars each day. Biogas can be obtained from the anaerobic fermentation of organic matter, be it household or industrial waste, or dedicated energy crops. After purification, the green gas becomes of a quality comparable to natural gas, which allows it to be introduced into the natural gas grid.
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: biogas :: CNG :: Austria ::
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