Dorf launches urban trials of natural gas
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i by Sally Nash
auliers are to be asked to take srt in "clean fuel" pilot projects London and Manchester this ?,ar as part of a government hue to promote the benefits of Aural gas-fuelled vehicles.
The DOT revealed the move st week in a consultation paper 1 clean fuels which describes le future direction of Powerlift, the £30m programme ?signed to provide grants wards the cost of buying eaner fuel vehicles.
This year Powershtft could fund over 6,000 vehicles; more than three times last year's total.
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trials will be run in conjunction with hauliers, local authorities, health authorities and distributors. Although London and Manchester have been earmarked for the initial trials, the DoT says other urban areas could follow if they prove successful.
The government hopes the high-profile nature of the trials will help drive up the number of CNG vehicles on the roads and lead to the establishment of a local network of refuelling outlets in the test areas.
ERF and Scania have been leading the way in the development of gas-powered trucks. They declined to comment on the consultation paper at this stage, but Scania national fleet sales director Henry Gryblo does say: "There is an extremely high level of interest in our re-engineered gas units. We are planning to produce 200 this year but the interest level is such that it probably won't be enough."
Some operators point out that the lack of gas refuelling stations in the country is a disincentive to switch. Paul Newton of Horley Motors says: "There's the problem of where to buy gas—I wouldn't know where to get it on the Continent."
Also, gas is not thought to be suitable for all types of operation: until now it has been most widely used in the food distribution and parcels sectors.