OREANDA-NEWS.   Did you know that natural gas (methane) used as a motor fuel is the most eco-friendly energy source for motor vehicles among the conventional ones? It is one of the main reasons why promoting methane use as a motor fuel is a strategic area of Gazprom’s activities.

In recent months our Company has been ‘generating’ news about this subject thick and fast. Methane-powered fleet to be considerably extended, Cutting-edge domestic gas-fired railway vehicles to appear in Russia, Gazprom’s NGV fuel entering the Asia-Pacific market, Gazprom entering Croatian NGV market – these are only some of the headlines of October and November 2013.

And to make sure that such big headlines are driven by real work, we went to the Stavropol Territory to check how NGV fuel of the 21st century is being promoted by our subsidiary company Gazprom Transgaz Stavropol.
The Stavropol Territory is one of the Russian regions where the vast network of CNG filling stations has been operating since mid 1980s. Most of those first stations are still running. In the photo you can see a CNG filling station in Nevinnomyssk. Constructed in 1986, it is still popular among the drivers.

As we have already said, the growing interest in compressed natural gas (CNG) in the modern world is explained, in the first place, by its high environmental outcomes. On average, emissions of CNG-powered vehicles are five times lower than those of gasoline-powered engines. It is especially important for big cities where cars became the main source of air pollution long ago. In the photo you can see Stavropol.

Another undoubted advantage of compressed methane is its comparatively low price versus conventional motor fuels and even propane. An average price of CNG nationwide doesn’t exceed 10 rubles for a cubic meter (the mileage of a car running on one cubic meter of compressed methane is roughtly the same as per one litre of gasoline). In the photo you can see an advertising board in the city center of Nevinnomyssk.

The Stavropol gas workers, as well as Gazprom in general, cooperate with major Russian car manufacturers and distributors to extend the fleet of natural gas-powered vehicles and equipment. According to experts’ estimates, the fleet of methane-powered vehicles in the Stavropol Territory and neighboring regions presently accounts for 6,000 cars, out of which 232 belong to Gazprom Transgaz Stavropol (one-fifth of the whole vehicle fleet owned by the company). In the photo you can see an exhibition of heavy-duty methane-powered trucks on the site of automobile operating company No. 1 of Stavropol.

It’s also popular among agricultural producers. Not too long ago Concern Tractor Plants manufactured one of the first Russian tractors, methane-powered and eco-friendly.

Gazprom Transgaz Stavropol is a top subsidiary in terms of CNG sales. The company owns 13 CNG filling stations with the monthly capacity of 180,000 refills. Eight stations are located in the Stavropol Territory, two – in Kabardino-Balkaria and North Ossetia-Alania, and one – in Karachay-Cherkessia. 160 million cubic meters of CNG were sold at these filling stations during the last three years (from 2011 to 2013). In the photo you can see a CNG filling station in Mikhailovsk (Stavropol Territory).