A nationwide scheme to convert 1.2 million gasoline-powered public transport and commercial vehicles to compressed natural gas hybrids will help reduce gasoline consumption by 10 million liters per day, director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said.
“Given the fact that Persian Gulf free-on-board gasoline prices stand at 60 cents per liter, the saved volume [10 million liters] is expected to add $2 billion to NIORDC’s annual revenue,” Jalil Salari was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news service.
Since the launch of the plan in 2020, about 200,000 vehicles have been retrofitted and the rest are on the waiting list, he added.
The official noted that close to 20 million cubic meters of CNG are burnt in Iran on a daily basis, which help curb gasoline use by 20 million liters per day, adding that currently, 2,646 CNG filling stations can supply 30 mcm of the clean fuel per day.
Total gasoline consumption in Iran is close to 90 million liters per day.
“The number of vehicles with hybrid CNG engines has surpassed 4 million,” Salari added.
NIOPDC has announced that of the 19 million vehicles in Iran, five million have hybrid CNG engines, accounting for 20% of overall CNG consumption. Globally, Iran is the fifth biggest CNG consumer.
NIOPDC has announced that of the 19 million vehicles in Iran, 5 million have hybrid CNG engines, accounting for 20% of overall CNG consumption. Globally, Iran is the fifth biggest CNG consumer
CNG is projected to comprise 35% of Iran's total fuel consumption by the end of the Sixth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2017-22).
Unlike gasoline, eco-friendly CNG minimizes harmful carbon emission. This helps engines run more efficiently and increases the life of spark plugs.
Abundant gas deposits and cost-effective production justify replacing gasoline with compressed natural gas.
One cubic meter of CNG costs 6,000 rials (3 cents), which is about four times cheaper than gasoline. A liter of subsidized gasoline costs 15,000 rials (7.5 cents) and non-subsidized fuel 30,000 rials (15 cents).
“As long as the price difference between gasoline and CNG is as low as 4 cents, motorists will have no motivation to fill up their tanks with CNG,” he added.
LPG production
Salari noted that around 20,000 tons of LPG are produced in Iran per day, half of which is sold in regions that still do not have access to piped gas, namely in southern provinces like Sistan-Baluchestan and Kerman.
At least one million cars are equipped with LPG kits and the Oil Ministry plans to add more LPG to the country’s fuel basket, he added.
According to published reports, there are an estimated 4.7 million, 3 million, 2.5 million and 2.4 million cars running on LPG in Turkey, Russia, South Korea and Italy, respectively.
LPG prolongs engine life and reduces maintenance costs.
Another consideration in using LPG is the environment, as the combustion of LPG is more efficient than gasoline, meaning the amount of carbon monoxide emission is much less.
On the global scale, 270 million tons of this fuel are produced, of which vehicles consume 26 million tons (10%). This is while in Iran it barely accounts for 2% of the fuel used in transportation sector.
Many European and Asian new car manufacturers offer LPG versions of their cars. The Europeans include Volkswagen, Citroen, Fiat, Ford, Opel, Peugeot, Renault and Volvo. Toyota, Hyundai, Daewoo and Tata Motors are among the big Asian manufacturers.
