In recent years, in many parts of the world, natural gas supplies have increased due to new pipelines and hydraulic fracturing, leading to reduced prices for natural gas and wider geographic availability of vehicle refueling. As a result, interest has been renewed in utilizing natural gas as a transportation fuel to reduce both the use of oil and greenhouse gas emissions, driving the light duty (LD) natural gas vehicle (NGV) market.
The momentum has been particularly strong in North America and Asia Pacific, according to Navigant Research who predicts that global annual LD NGV sales will grow from 2.3 million vehicles in 2014 to 3.8 million in 2023 thanks to key players like China, India, Thailand, and the United States.Demand for LD NGVs in European countries will remain relatively uneven from country to country, although Navigant anticipates mature markets like Italy and Ukraine to see growth.
In some countries, such as India, China, Thailand, and Brazil, a robust market for natural gas vehicles already exists. In others, such as the United States and Germany, NGVs are a relatively small niche, even though some major automakers have refocused their efforts in the NGV market.
“Growth in the market for natural gas vehicles is being driven by increasing supplies of low-cost, readily available natural gas, along with expanding refueling infrastructure and increasingly strict vehicle emission requirements,” said John Gartner, research director with Navigant Research.
NGVs are undergoing technical change with the introduction of direct injection, which promises to increase fuel economy and reduce emissions, according to Navigant. The direct injection of natural gas has been a challenge in the past, due to poor ignition characteristics and challenges managing natural gas in the combustion cylinder, but automakers in Europe are planning to launch vehicles using the technology beginning in 2014.
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GregT on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 6:55 pm
” automakers in Europe are planning to launch vehicles using the technology beginning in 2014.”
Too late, if trends continue, much of Europe won’t have enough Nat Gas to heat their homes in the winter, let alone convert a fleet of tens of millions of cars. Better to buy a bicycle, while they’re still being manufactured.
Plantagenet on Tue, 3rd Jun 2014 7:12 pm
Don’t worry. Obama has assured us that we have a 100-year-supply of NG thanks to fracking.
TIKIMAN on Wed, 4th Jun 2014 6:15 am
Hmmm yeah… Then someone will relize yet again that 99.99999% of all vehicles in the world use gasoline engines and there is not enough money in the universe to convert those engines to burn something thats in decline as well.
HA!
Davy, Hermann, MO on Wed, 4th Jun 2014 6:45 am
It amazes me all the car commercials today. It is surreal to see the well crafted stories and messages in these ads. Energy intensive transport is in near collapse they just don’t know it yet. It will happen quick when the bankruptcies occur even with the maintenance facilities and parts availability. Cars and trucks will be a major source of salvage! Lets hope there are still trains.
Northwest Resident on Wed, 4th Jun 2014 10:32 am
Davy — I’m pretty sure that on the day before catastrophic global financial collapse, they’ll be running a new commercial on national television network channels, promising zero $$$ down payment and zero interest and no credit history required for the bright shining automobile of your choice.
It is going to be a pathetic sight to behold when one day the “movers and shakers” of our current financial system wake up one day and realize that nobody is buying their shit and that the rapacious economic system that they clawed their way to the top of no longer exists.