Engie : I need to renew my fleet of vehicles. What are the…

As a fleet manager, do you know that natural gas for vehicles (NGV) is now the world's leading alternative fuel? And that hydrogen, is also making steady progress, thanks to fuel cells? These alternative fuels have numerous environmental, economic and health benefits. We look at some of their advantages.

Less pollution

95% of the transportation of people and goods still relies on oil-derived fuels and generates significant greenhouse gas emissions. In Europe, for instance, 30% of CO emissions are linked to road transport.

Natural Gas for Vehicles (NGV) is an alternative to coal and oil for mobility, and largely results in improved quality of urban life. In transportation, with the replacement of oil by natural gas, particulate emissions are reduced by 99%; noise emissions of engines are halved by comparison with diesel; CO emissions are reduced by up to 25% and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by between 60% and 90%. BioNGV, produced from organic waste, gives a reduction of up to 97% in CO emissions. (Source: Eurogas)

Another carbon-free solution is hydrogen. Electric vehicles can use motors with hydrogen fuel cells. These vehicles emit no particulates or greenhouse gas emissions. The motor only emits vapor. To enable it to play a part in developing this technology of the future, the ENGIE Group has invested in the capital of Symbio FCell, which produces complete fuel cell systems for electric vehicles from prototypes to finished products.

Fuels that offer greater range

NGV offers greater range than electric vehicles, especially in liquefied form - between 400 and 1,000 kilometers, depending on the type of vehicle.

The range of vehicles using hydrogen fuel cells is also greater than that of electric vehicles equipped with batteries - up to 600 km for a saloon - and 'filling up' is very quick, as for a traditional car.

Natural gas for vehicles is cheaper

Costing between €0.70 and €1.20 per liter of diesel fuel equivalent, the pump price of NGV is, on average, 50% lower than that of gasoline and 30% compared to diesel fuel. Natural gas for vehicles is therefore very competitively positioned!

An expanding network of filling stations

ENGIE is investing massively in the installation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) filling stations that will service fleets of trucks in natural gas and biogas throughout Europe. Roughly a hundred filling stations should be open by 2020. Meanwhile, the Connect 2 LNG consortium, set up by ENGIE in 2015, brings together several players in the private sector who are all committed to extending the European LNG refueling network. In France, GNVERT, a subsidiary of ENGIE, markets a full range of natural gas for vehicles, in both compressed and liquefied form, through a network of 140 filling stations.

As far as hydrogen is concerned, there are currently around fifteen refueling stations in France, but the target is for a hundred to be operational by 2018. ENGIE is eager to contribute to the development of hydrogen for electric mobility, and offers comprehensive solutions for designing, building and operating such stations.