A government official has urged the use of compressed natural gas (CNG), which is expected to help reduce gas emissions and protect the environment in Vietnam.
At an international seminar on using CNG that opened in Ho Chi Minh City on March 29, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien also said that use of CNG in industrial production and to fuel vehicles, especially public vehicles, in Vietnam would bring economic efficiency and reduce environmental pollution.
Using CNG will cost less than half of using petroleum, he affirmed.
At present, two CNG-fuelled buses have been operating in Ho Chi Minh City since 2009, at 53.5 percent the cost of petroleum. The city plans to put about 50 more buses of this kind into operation in April and bring the total number of CNG-fuel buses to 800 by the end of this year.
According to the Southern LPG Joint Stock Company (PV Gas South), one of the country’s two CNG suppliers, Vietnam is a strong potential market for using CNG.
PV Gas South provides CNG to 14 customers to produce steel, tiles, various construction materials, glass and food at industrial parks in the southern provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City at an estimated volume of 60 million cu.m in 2010, which is expected to hit 250 million cu.m in 2015.
The seminar drew investors and CNG manufacturers and suppliers from Japan, the Republic of Korea, China,Thailand, Germany, Singapore, Australia, Austria and Canada.