Tapping the benefits of gas-powered vehicles

The signing, by the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) recently of separate deals with 75 conversion firms nationwide as part of government’s  policy of reducing addiction to petrol and diesel is timely, and needs to be quickly followed up to relieve Nigerians of the pain of buying petrol at very high prices. The (PCNGI, is a scheme, which seeks to expand the use of gas for fuelling vehicles in the country,

Today, the global auto manufacturing community is tilting towards gas-powered and electric vehicles (EVs) as major manufacturers from Japanese to European and American fast roll out EVs and gas-powered vehicles. This implies that vehicles that currently run on fossil-fuels should have a rethink now to avoid going into extinction.

Natural gas powers more than 175,000 vehicles in the United States and 23 million vehicles worldwide. It’s an ideal alternative to gasoline and diesel for heavy and medium-duty applications. Countries, including Nigeria, that are still largely dependent on fossil fuels to power their vehicles must prepare for that major shift to avoid being left behind in the scheme of development.

Particularly, Nigeria must shift her focus away from fossil-fuel and do everything possible to encourage gas-powered and electric vehicles (EVs) deployment. This is because a large percentage of many of the fossil-fuel-powered vehicles to be phased out in places like North America and Europe will ultimately end up in Nigeria between the 2030 deadline set in those jurisdictions till about 2055.

Therefore, the signing of deals with 75 conversion firms is a welcome development. Report has it that the agreements now cover eight states and expansion set for nine additional states before the end of the year.

The Chief Executive Officer of the organisation, Michael Oluwagbemi, disclosed that so far, the office has been able to distribute over 6,000 to 7,000 conversion kits. Oluwagbemi said the Presidential Initiative has signed up over 75 conversion partners across eight states including Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Delta, Kogi, Nasarawa, FCT, and Kaduna, with nine more states, including Kwara, Ekiti, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Rivers, Enugu, Kano, Niger set to join the list.

He stressed that the PCNGI was expecting additional 12,000 kits, which will enable it to get more conversions done by the end of this year, with additional 100,000 to 250,000 kits before the end of Q1 next year.

This move by the government deserves support which has become more critical to ensure the success of the PCNGI as many first world countries have set target dates ranging from 2030 to 2045 for the total decarbonisation,, that is none usage of environment-polluting fossil-fuel, like petrol and diesel, of their auto-transport industry. Gas and EVs are ideal alternatives to gasoline and diesel for heavy and medium-duty applications. And this ideal has become more pronounce with climate change, which has in recent times caused many climatological and environmental disasters in the world,

In addition to considering the climate impact on health, a well-managed gasification policy, especially in the automotive industry, can also open new vista of entrepreneurship in the refitting of many of the country’s extant filling stations with gas dispensing equipment.

From the national reticulation of gas for varied purposes to other methods of supplying the gas to points of dispensation for the fuelling of automobiles, a whole industrial ecosystem (which can well rival the petroleum industry’s profile of the economy) can be grown to diversify the economy.

Further, this new development has a potential of helping in managing resources from the petroleum industry, for instance to offset the country’s huge debt incurred on fuel subsidy; and also arrest the flaring of gas, estimated at $12.5 billion. In other words, the initiative, if well implemented can help to stem a wasteful tide on the country’s part.

Besides, Nigeria is far more a geological gas-rich nation than the blessings of oil. It is a sad irony that the country is presently not fully harnessing the relative pricing cum ecological advantages of powering 90 per cent of its transportation sectoral architecture, which is more vehicular, relative to aviation and other forms of movement. The country must act fast on this!

Besides, with the estimated one million conversions, the PCNGI scheme can help create 100,000 direct jobs, while 25,000 technicians can be enabled across 1,000 conversion centres as well as over 2,300 refueling stations. This should enable the government hit the goal of 150,000 direct conversions in the next one year, as against just the seven conversion centres in Nigeria when the scheme started.

Indeed, changing vehicle fleets on the road to a new technology is a massive undertaking and pulls at the fiber of all aspects of communities and local economies.  As market forces and technology innovation yield even more incentives for consumers and auto companies to move toward cleaner technologies, the flywheel will start spinning. For instance, acceptance and deployment of gas-powered vehicles can lead to economies of scale. This, in turn, provides opportunity for companies to make pricing even more attractive to buyers.

Switching to natural gas can reduce hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Report has shown that vehicles that use compressed natural gas (CNG) can reduce their GHG emissions by 13-18 per cent.

Natural gas vehicles offer additional air quality and environmental justice benefits too. They emit almost no particulate matter, volatile organic compounds or carbon monoxide which leads to poor air quality.

There are also other environmental risks that can be eliminated. For example, natural gas can’t spill because it’s lighter than air. It doesn’t puddle or cause ground contamination, unlike a diesel or gasoline spill.

Going forward, policy incentives should be deployed to support the Presidential Initiative, which will impact on battery production and retooling of assembly. The right policies would ensure gasoline powered engines stay in the rear-view mirror and accelerate transition toward net zero emissions by 2050. Nigeria should not be a dumping ground for fossil-fuel vehicles from other parts of the world.