All About Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFV)

Express News Service. Pune, July 25, 2007
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=247613

As a measure to control pollution, the State government is considering a proposal to make Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) compulsory for vehicles in Pune, Thane Municipal Corporation area, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Solapur. The state had already made the use of CNG mandatory for public vehicles in Mumbai and also disallowed the use of old vehicles. State Environment Minister Ganesh Naik said this in the legislative council on Wednesday replying to a question about deaths in the state due to water pollution related diseases from Arjun Khotkar and others.
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Yangon, Myanmar / Associated Press, Aug. 15, 2007
Source: BusinessWeek
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R19IT80.htm

Myanmar’s ruling military junta imposed a surprise 100 percent hike on fuel at state-owned gas stations on Wednesday, apparently to keep up with global oil prices. As usual in the tightly controlled country, the price hike was not officially announced and car owners discovered the increases only when they drove up to fill their tanks.  The government, which holds a monopoly on fuel sales and subsidizes them, raised prices of fuel from 1,500 kyats (US$1.16; 85 euro cents) to 3,000 kyats (US$2.33; euro1.71) per imperial gallon for diesel and to 2,500 kyats (US$1.94; euro1.42) for gasoline. A canister of natural gas containing 65 liters (17 gallons) was raised from 500 kyats (39 U.S. cents; 29 euro cents) to 2,500 kyats (US$1.94; euro1.42).
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August 16, 2007
Source:  http://www.nationnews.com/story/311344934522358.php

TWENTY-FIVE public transportation vehicles will be monitored in a year-long pilot project aimed at looking at saving Government fuel costs while being environmentally friendly. This is pending Cabinet approval. Speaking yesterday, at the opening of the Sol Fresh ‘N Fast Convenience Store located at Shell Redman’s Village, Minister of Energy and the Environment Elizabeth Thompson said if the project went as planned, “four different fuel sources” including natural gas, bio-diesel and electricity would be compared in areas of fuel efficiency, costs and effects on the environment.
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Gov. Rell attempting to comply with federal mandate
by Paul Huges, Republican-American.com,
Hartford, CONN; August 13, 2007
http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2007/08/12/news/new_england/277316.txt

The state government’s fleet of more than 6,000 cars, vans, and trucks burns thousands of gallons of gasoline every day. The state’s bill for unleaded gasoline topped $7.5 million in 2006. That’s roughly $20,550 a day. Gov. M. Jodi Rell is now trying to comply with federal mandates requiring the state to reduce its use of petroleum. The administration is proposing a combination of strategies — expanding the use of alternative fuels, reducing the number of miles that state-owned vehicles log and acquiring more hybrid electric vehicles.
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By Terence J Sigamony
Rawalpindi, Aug 20,  2007
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C08%5C20%5Cstory_20-8-2007_pg11_1

The increasing number of CNG filling stations in thickly populated residential areas is posing a serious threat to the lives of people living in adjacent localities.  These CNG stations, in almost every residential area of the city including Tulsa Chowk, Bakra Mandi, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Ratta Amral, Chungi 22, Tench Bhatta, Muslim Town, Adiala Road and Saidpur Road, are not only posing a threat to the lives of the residents, but also causing gas shortage in nearby localities during winters.
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13 Aug, 2007
Source: http://www.7days.ae/showstory.php?id=56347

Sometimes, going green isn’t that easy as it seems. Take DHL for instance. Early this year, the logistics firm announced that it would add natural gas (NG)-powered vans to its UAE express delivery fleet, in the hope that this would lead the country’s efforts at promoting alternative fuel vehicles. To start off, it put two vehicles running on NG on a pilot project; but its efforts to improve that number have hit a wall because there are few natural gas filling stations in the country. “At the moment, the biggest constraint is the lack of filling stations for natural gas,” acknowledged Geoff Walsh, operations manger – UAE, DHL.

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Despite a low-risk, high-growth business model, the IGL stock is under-rated and deserves a re-rating.  The company is expanding its CNG network across the capital.
Raghuvir Srinivasan, July 26, 2007
Source: The Hindu Businessline.com
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/iw/2007/07/29/stories/2007072950871100.htm

There are few stocks in the oil and gas sector that come without the risk of a significant downside from rising global crude oil prices or government policy. Indraprastha Gas (IGL) is one. The stock is characterised by none of the traditional risks associated with an oil and gas sector investment. For IGL, high global oil prices are not a threat; they are an opportunity. The Government policy on pricing of petroleum products do not affect IGL; they help the company. There are no subsidies that the company has to bear or share with other oil companies.
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Suresh Krishnamoorthy, The Hindu
Hyderabad, August 7, 2007
Source: The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/07/stories/2007080775970400.htm

Those wishing to convert their automobiles to gas - either liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or compressed natural gas (CNG) can now go ahead without too much of fear of the fuel tanks bursting. The Transport Department has begun an exercise of mapping the numbers of gas-based vehicles - both transport and non-transport - in the State and also verifying the genuineness of the systems installed in the automobiles. Additional Commissioner C. L. N. Gandhi said a Task Force led by RTO Secunderabad M. Selvaraj was involved in the exercise of gathering information on manufacturers of gas kits and their dealers and maintenance outlets in the State.
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Natural Gas Leads the Pack with the ‘Cleanest Engine’ Garnering Both U.S. EPA and CARB Certification to 2010 Emission Standards
Diamond Bar, CA, Aug. 13, 2007
Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/

The California Natural Gas Vehicle Partnership(CNGVP) announced today that one of its most active industry members Cummins Westport Inc. received certification from both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for its ISL G heavy-duty natural gas engine. The certification from these two agencies is noteworthy as it designates this engine as meeting 2010 standards of 0.2g/bhp-hr oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and 0.01 g/bhp-hr particulate matter (PM). The emission standards set for 2010 are significantly more stringent than those set in years past due to the need to address the reduction of harmful emissions from heavy-duty vehicles which contribute to greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
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Source: The Salt Lake Tribune, August 6, 2007
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6555418

Utah State University officials say they are happy with the school’s fleet of nine natural gas-powered buses. But the school is getting rid of seven natural gas-powered trucks. The Herald Journal newspaper reports today that USU first began using both types of vehicles in the 1990s. But USU’s director of business services for the facilities department, Eileen Campbell, says problems with the trucks began almost immediately. The did not prove reliable, and the tanks took up a lot of room in the truck beds. Campbell also says just putting natural gas in the trucks was time-consuming, anf touchy: if the fuel was put in too quickly, air would get into the tank.
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