BENEFIT AND RESTRICTIONS RELATED TO THE APPLICATION OF NATURAL GAS AS ENGINE FUEL FOR CITY BUSES

Abstract

Human activities, in particular transport, are partially responsible for the problem associated with the greenhouse effect, and therefore global warming. The transport sector is responsible for around of 25% of Carbon Dioxide emissions and consumes almost 50% of global oil production. Natural Gas as an alternative fuel has many advantages: lower costs, lower emissions because of more complete combustion, lower noise and longer engine life. The goal of the European Union is that alternative sources of energy represent 20% of total consumption by 2020. In many countries around the world, intensively growing consumption of energy produced from fossil fuels. The similar situation is related to the European Union, where the demand for energy is constantly increasing too. Because the resources are limited, the consequences are the dependence of the oil product which comes from politically unstable regions with increased costs. According to the global strategy we are seeking to solve these problems through a series of initiatives and innovations including the introduction of Natural Gas buses in city transport. If we take into account the existing situation in city transport, our strategic proposal is to begin by retrofitting diesel buses into bi-fuel or dedicated Natural Gas Vehicles. This paper analyzed some benefits, which summarized according to the authors’ experiences about the introduction of the Compressed Natural Gas buses in urban transport in Kragujevac city. Regarding to the future, for us this is first step before starting new project related to the introduction of Hydrogen buses in city transport.