With the replacement of 17,000 diesel-engine buses in the public transport services with compressed natural gas (CNG) buses the “financial benefits will be two-fold.”
The plan for replacing 17,000 diesel engine buses with CNG powered buses was ratified at a recent meeting of the Economic Council, in the presence of Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri and Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh.
Reduction of gasoline consumption and increasing vehicle efficiency are among the benefits which the plan will entail. The funding needed for implementing the plan has been estimated at $1.8 billion, SHANA reported.
The estimates of the Iranian Fuel Conservation Company (IFCC) indicate that the overall revenues which will be accrued ten years after the implementation of the plan will add up to nearly $3.6 billion, double the initial expenditure.
The vice-presidency for strategic planning and supervision has announced that renovating the public transportation fleet will increase fuel consumption efficiency and reduce environmental and noise pollution. It will also cut down 4.3 billion liters of diesel fuel consumption and ultimately reduce green house gas emission by 4.5 billion tons.
Phasing Out
The plan will be implemented 42 months after ratification. According to note G, clause 2, of the budget plan for the Iranian calendar year 1393 (ending March 20, 2015), in eight years the oil ministry is permitted to spend a maximum $1.8 billion under the plan. Also, with every new CNG bus added, the Municipalities Organization is obliged to phase out a diesel engine bus dating over ten years.
Earlier, the head of IFCC, Nosratollah Seifi, said the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the ministries of oil and interior in this regard was proposed by the Bus Drivers’ Union through the deputy of infrastructure affairs at the interior ministry. The official had stated that if the plan was ratified by the Economy Council, it would be implemented with the help of the union.
In addition to reducing pollutants, replacing diesel buses with CNG buses will also cut fuel costs, he added.
