Officials tout Vietnam as potential market for CNG
By Quoc Hung - The Saigon Times Daily
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| Experts and business representatives in talks on the sidelines of the forum on using compressed natural gas in HCMC - Photo: Quoc Hung |
HCMC – Officials at a two-day forum beginning in HCMC on Monday stressed that Vietnam is poised to become a strong consumer of compressed natural gas (CNG) for the transport sector given the country’s availability of natural gas and the urgent need to use the clean energy as a substitute for oil products in the coming years.
Bui Van Quyen, head of the southern office of the Ministry of Science and Technology, told the first international forum of its type in Vietnam that 
Vietnam has large methane natural gas reserves that can be turned CNG to supply for natural gas vehicles (NGV).
The forum, named CNG-NGV Vietnam 2009 with the theme of “the Green Road to Vietnam,” is organized by All Events Group Pte. Ltd., Economic Development & Commercial Promotion Corp. and VN Venture Ltd., attracting nearly 150 local and foreign enterprises.
Quyen said that CNG consumption in Vietnam would develop strongly in the future as the energy is more environmental-friendly and cheaper than common petrol and diesel fuels used by most of vehicles in Vietnam.
As Vietnam looks to becoming an industrialized economy by 2020, the number of vehicles will be increasing quickly to serve more than 85 million people. So the market for natural gases will be big in big cities for buses and taxi cabs, Quyen said.
He said that with the worsening air pollution caused by over one million vehicles including buses in big cities, “it is imperative to replace fossil fuel with green fuel like CNG.”
CNG is less combustible than diesel oil since its burning temperature at 6,500 degree Celcius is three times higher than petrol.
Fuel costs for operating a CNG bus is some 50% less than operating a diesel bus, while the CNG bus produces little pollution compared to a diesel bus.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien at the forum also expressed his support for using CNG for vehicles rather than diesel and petrol to save costs and reduce air pollution.
However, several experts while advocating for the use of CNG as an alternative fuel suggested that the Government issue support policies to make the conversion a reality.
Although authorities in big cites want to promote the new fuel for commuter buses to save costs on fuel and reduce air pollution, most private vehicle owners cannot afford the conversion or replacement of engines to use CNG, which costs up to some US$25,000 each.
Although they know that switching to CNG in the long run would be more economical and environmentally friendly, but the sum of US$25,000 for changing engines for each vehicle is too costly, Quyen of Ministry of Science and Technology said.
This can be made possible only if the Government gives some incentives such as reducing import tax for equipment using the CNG technology and investing in infrastructure like material supply stations, according to Quyen.
Until now, Vietnam has only a a facility to produce CNG. The facility was inaugurated last year with an initial capacity of 30 million tons of material gas per year in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.
According to PetroVietnam, the country boasts a natural gas reserve of over 2,000 billion cubic meters. PetroVietnam has a project to invest US$252 million in 360 CNG stations at 360 bus stops across HCMC.