First CBG plant opened in Thailand

BANGKOK, February 15 (TNA) - Thailand's first production facility of compressed bio-methane gas (CBG) for transportation has started operation to support the government's policy on developing alternative energy. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra presided over a ceremony to inaugurate the first CBG production project in Mae Taeng District of Thailand's northern Chiang Mai Province on Friday morning. The CBG facility belongs to Universal Adsorbents & Chemicals Public Company Limited, which is supported by the Thai government, through the Ministry of Energy, as the administration has promoted clean energy to address the shortage of natural gas for vehicles (NGV) in remote areas, especially in the North and the Northeast, where gas demand has kept rising. Studies have shown that CBG produced from pig manure and fermented nipa grass has the same property as NGV as announced by the Department of Energy Business. The new Thai CBG plant can produce six tons of CBG a day, which is enough to fuel 500 cars and 40 trucks daily. The Thai prime minister insisted that her government supports commercial alternative energy projects nationwide. (TNA)