C.N.G. car boom forecast

Press, 11 August 1979, Page 11

C.N.G. car boom forecast

PA Wellington In five years New Zealand may have the biggest car fleet in the world pow< ered on compressed natural gas. The president of the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association (Mr D. C. McDonald) has said manufacturers should concentrate on producing cars powered by alternative fuel, particularly liquified petroleum gas and C.N.G. He was speaking to the annual conference of the

Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Federation. Many vehicle components made today would not exist in five years, he said. Design and functional requirements would be completely different, and manufacturers must keep abreast of the trends. The world was already short of between 5 per cent and 8 per cent of its liquid fuel requirements, said Mr McDonald. An alternative to conventional petrol needed to be developed quickly. The short-term answer

was L.P.G., C.N.G. and, more important, conservation. C.N.G. should be developed as quickly as possible, he said. Because of supply constraints on compressor stations and conversion kits for vehicles, fleet vehicles should have priority for C.N.G! Ml 5, the mixture of 15 per cent methanol with gasoline, could be considered as an alternative fuel, but Mr McDonald said it was lacking in calorific value and would be suitable only for vehicles yet to be manufactured.

Synthetic gasoline, al« though slightly more expensive to manufacture, was an improvement on methanol mix, and might be the best for the medium term. For the long-term, however, conservation was the keynote, coupled with the use of L.P.G., C.N.G. and then probably the use of alcohols, particularly ethanol which would be produced from biomass, together with synthetic petrol. Mr McDonald appealed to the manufacturers to plan ahead.