As a vehicle fuel, LNG (liquefied natural gas) has the advantages of high octane number, good anti explosion performance, small engine loss, low fuel cost and good environmental protection performance compared with traditional fuel fuel. Therefore, the research and development and application of LNG commercial vehicles have been widely promoted in foreign countries.

Multi use in commercial vehicle field

Taking the United States and Germany as examples, LNG vehicle has been promoted for many years. It is understood that the LNG vehicles currently operating are mainly commercial vehicles, such as urban public transportation, urban engineering vehicles, sanitation vehicles and logistics transportation companies. This is first because commercial vehicles are transported in large quantities, high utilization rates and natural gas prices are cheaper than fuel. Secondly, LNG vehicles have smaller pollution emissions. Compared with the diesel engine emissions of a large number of particles and noise pollution, LNG vehicles are less pollution.

In the United States, the most LNG vehicles are used in logistics vehicles. In the use and promotion of medium and short-distance heavy trucks, LNG vehicles are mainly arranged in the way of single cylinder vertically on both sides of the frame. Either ignition combustion mode or HPDI hybrid compression ignition mode (similar to diesel engine) can be selected. For example, most of the medium and short-distance vehicles used by UPS logistics group adopt HPDI type. As the control type of pre ignition compression ignition and ignition natural gas, this diesel oil is gradually recognized by developed countries. As early as 2011, UPS purchased 48 LNG trucks and put them into the companies of Lake antleau, California. Meanwhile, the city transport department in New York also operates gas buses. Verizon Communications Inc. and at&t Inc. are also using gas powered trucks.

In Germany, Hellmann logistics, a large logistics company, began to test LNG powered heavy trucks in the fall of 2012 and carried out a four week road transport. Since then, LNG trucks have opened up the market of LNG logistics suppliers in Germany.

Road test shows that LNG truck can complete the task well, Ren, head of Hanhong Logistics é Stocker said the trial proved that LNG vehicles could significantly reduce CO2 emissions compared to diesel vehicles, while emissions from other harmful substances such as carbon particles and nitric oxide could be almost negligible.

Natural gas truck has become a new development trend in the world. Compared with traditional diesel trucks, natural gas trucks are more environmentally friendly, greenhouse gas emissions are lower and operating noise is lower. Although the price will be higher than diesel trucks, in the long run, the advantages of natural gas trucks will be more and more obvious in the day when the oil price is rising.

In addition to the United States and Germany, the development of natural gas vehicles in France, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal also focuses on commercial vehicles, including buses, logistics vehicles and garbage transport vehicles.

Policy guarantee LNG vehicle promotion

Similar to China, it is one of the means of some countries to promote natural gas vehicles through policy support. For example, the purpose of promoting LNG vehicles is to reduce taxes and provide subsidies. In Sweden, gas vehicles pay about 3000 Krona (2862 yuan) lower road taxes than diesel vehicles. In Stockholm, Sweden, from 6:30 to 18:30 from Monday to Friday, every vehicle entering and leaving the city will pay a congestion fee, but energy-saving and environmental protection vehicles such as natural gas vehicles can be free of traffic congestion. Each environmental protection vehicle can save about 14400 kronor per year. In Pakistan, customs are exempt from tax for imported natural gas equipment, vehicles and retrofits, and tax authorities also exempt sales tax on natural gas vehicles. In Bangladesh, the introduction of gas station equipment, retrofits and natural gas vehicles are all subject to tax-free policies, and banks and leasing companies can provide loan support for the modification of natural gas vehicles. The Asian Development Bank has helped Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, to purchase 10000 sets of natural gas vehicle retrofits and gas cylinders at a time. Thailand also has preferential tax policies on original natural gas vehicles, engines and retrofits, with tax rates first falling from 40% to 20% and finally to 0%. Moreover, the Thai government will subsidize THB 10000 (about 2122 yuan) for every individual to refit a natural gas vehicle.

In the process of developing natural gas vehicles, Croatia has made new exploration in organizational form, which provides reference for other countries. In 2009, Croatia established the "financing agency for the environmental protection and energy efficiency fund". After the establishment of the institution, it mainly promotes the development of clean energy automobile industry through two measures. First, through the management of bridge fees, congestion fees, control of the urban cargo transport and urban traffic facilities construction, improve the application of passenger and cargo transportation system to replace fuel and fuel cell, so as to promote the development of clean automobile projects; LNG and CNG vehicles are preferred to be used in commercial, public transport services, taxis, driving schools and public service companies; Support the construction of new LNG and CNG gas stations through financial means. The other is to carry out "transport plans to reduce environmental quality" through cooperation with the Ministry of ocean, transport and infrastructure, as well as the Ministry of economy, labour and enterprises. The main task of the plan is to replace environmentally poor buses, trucks and school buses and provide 50000 Kuna (about 6750 euros) subsidies to each vehicle through financing agencies.

Limited LNG vehicle application with less number of gas stations

As in China, the insufficient construction of gas station is an important factor restricting the development of LNG vehicles. The United States is the second largest natural gas producer in the world. The research and development of LNG technology has appeared in the 1930s. But according to the energy information administration, only 110000 natural gas vehicles were operating in the United States as of 2009. The United States has abundant resources and advanced technology, but it has not been widely used for LNG vehicles, which is not related to the only 66 LNG stations in 10 states in the United States.

A spokesman for an engine company abroad said that the oil fuel in use has a network of gas stations across continents, and natural gas also has, but through pipelines, it enters people's homes and the power industry. The challenge now is to build a ubiquitous network like diesel stations. UPS spokesman Kara? Jhahart? Ross also said it was their long-term goal to convert 1000 of the 17000 heavy trucks owned by UPS to LNG trucks, and that they cannot achieve the goal now only because of "the limitation of gas stations".

It is understood that one of the largest private energy enterprises in China, Xinao group, is vigorously promoting the infrastructure construction of heavy trucks powered by natural gas in the United States. The background is that the abundant natural gas resources in the local will help the transportation industry to get rid of the situation of relying on imported crude oil to make diesel oil. The relevant head of new Olympic group said recently that the group did start building LNG filling station in the United States, but in a new market and new field, there will be various variables in its development process. So the goal this year is to build 50 LNG stations.

It is worth noting that clean energy, the largest transportation and natural gas provider in the United States, is also building a "US gas highway" project, which will build 150 LNG truck filling stations on major transportation routes in the United States, and plan to enter the downstream whole industrial chain of natural gas vehicles, namely gas stations, transportation, taxis, etc Airport traffic and municipal vehicle market.

In fact, most of the natural gas vehicles on the U.S. road belong to government or enterprise fleets with centralized gas stations. A US investment analysis agency mentioned in a report in July 2010 a decision of American automobile manufacturers such as GM to provide natural gas vehicles in their own market, and the natural gas suppliers in the United States will provide support to help enterprises to transform fleet vehicles into natural gas vehicles and build gas filling stations.

Although natural gas is cheap, the total cost of LNG station construction in the United States is not low or equivalent to that of domestic. Some market participants say the cost of each gas station in the United States is about $1 million (6.22 million yuan), while the cost of building a domestic station is about millions of yuan. Jiang Yu, head of international business of new Olympic group, pointed out that the price difference of gas stations in different places in the United States is obvious. Generally speaking, the cost is still higher than that of domestic ones, such as purchasing local equipment, hiring local personnel, employing local companies to design, etc., which are higher than those in China.

On the premise of abundant natural gas resources and advanced natural gas technology, Germany has accelerated the construction of LNG filling station to promote the application of LNG vehicles in China. It can be said that the development of German natural gas vehicles mainly benefits from the high close cooperation of the stakeholders such as natural gas companies, the government and automobile manufacturers. As of the end of 2010, data show that Germany has become the largest number of natural gas stations in Europe, reaching 900, and about 91500 natural gas vehicles, mainly concentrated in urban heavy vehicles, including buses and garbage carriers.