Gazprom calls on world gas cos to join forces to develop gas-powered transport
KUALA LUMPUR. June 5 (Interfax) - Russia's Gazprom at the World Gas Conference in Malaysia called on the world's gas companies to join forces to develop market infrastructure for natural gas motor fuel as a way to boost demand on the stagnating European gas market.
All German carmakers have already begun making gas-powered vehicles, German gas industry professionals told Interfax on the sidelines of the conference. However, Mercedes, which is so liked at Gazprom, will never produce a gas-fueled S-class, just an E-class model, one official remarked.
Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev presented the report at the conference that was prepared for company CEO Alexei Miller, who was summoned urgently to take part in President Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing.
"Understanding our role as a key supplier of natural gas on the Eurasian market, we are also thinking about what steps need to be taken within the context of existing opportunities to prevent climate change in the coming decades. We think that we need to join forces to expand the use of natural gas. The most promising in this regard is transport," Medvedev said.
He said transport accounts for 27.5% of the global fuel and energy balance and about the same proportion of carbon dioxide gas emissions. This figure will grow to 31% by 2034, the Russian Academy of Sciences forecasts.
Expanding the use of natural gas is a clear possibility, he said. "The result of the gas boom that we are now seeing in North America will be additional investment in technology for the use of natural gas, including in transportation. This will eventually lead to the expansion of the market for natural gas as a motor fuel," Medvedev said.
"We have been working on this problem for a long time. But international efforts are needed in order to achieve noticeable results. It is necessary to involve automobile companies, willing to cooperate in the area of international fuel projects, in the common cause," Medvedev said.
"We all need an international project, the goal of which will be to expand infrastructure for servicing and fuelling gas-powered vehicles, as well as additional measures to expand the range of vehicle production," Medvedev said.