Malaysia Eyes More Natural Gas Power to Fuel Cars

By ALI IMRAN MOHD NOORDIN KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 (Bernama) – At a time when countries across the globe are facing the inconvenient truth about environmental changes, an ordinary taxi sputtering along an expressway in Malaysia can be viewed by the rest of the fuel-guzzling world as a forerunner to a more sustainable future as a result of the country's emphasis on compressed natural gas (CNG) from petrol. With its well-maintained expressways, punctuated by frequent stops offering rest, food, and gas, and road signs that proclaim a 110-km/h speed limit and remind drivers to stay on the left, the country knows it needs to charge ahead to meet progress head on. This is why it is aggressively driving the introduction of environment-friendly alternative fuels. Malaysians are proving that taking care of the environment does not mean a return to a non-motorised utopia. Instead, based on 18 years of experience in powering automobiles with natural gas, Kuala Lumpur knows that not making the switch will prove doomsday predictions about climate change to be correct. THE RIGHT MOVES Malaysia is now ranked 22nd in the world for the number of natural gas vehicles (NGV) on its roads, but the real story reaches far beyond statistics. In Malaysia, that sputtering taxi running on natural gas is a movement in the right direction, a moment of change. Despite the many factors opposing the logic of change, what Malaysia has done is even more praiseworthy. As an oil-producing country, the government heavily subsidises retail fuel where vehicles running on natural gas are often considered sub-par when compared to glitzy petrol-run beauties. Even with the abundance of subsidised petrol, the government has ensured that CNG is priced at one-third the cost of petrol. It is also working to ensure that natural gas fuel pumps are not too few and far flung. In putting a proper perspective of the green scenario, Professor Ir Dr Barkawi Sahari of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM or Putra University, Malaysia) said that based upon current fuel prices, each petrol-powered vehicle costs an average of 23 cents per kilometre to operate. "For CNG engine users, it only costs around 11 cents. That is 52 percent cheaper," said Barkawi. POSITIVE TREND Although most of the NGVs operating in the country are taxis, a new and positive trend has been emerging lately. Private individuals are converting ever more vehicles to run on natural gas. This is shift to green fuel certainly falls in line with the global agenda. Statistics released by NGV Global show that as of December 2011, Iran and Pakistan each had nearly three million natural gas powered vehicles on their roads. Yet, it was not always a rosy picture; in fact, the beginnings of the green movement were rather humble. Back in 1995, Malaysia had started making the petrol-to-gas switch, but with a mere 851 vehicles. That number has now raced to 48,946 NGVs, trailing only Thailand among South East Asian countries. But Malaysia knows that the technological gap between traditional petrol or diesel engines and NGV technology needs to be bridged. Barkawi said a team of researchers from local universities has now developed an engine running solely on natural gas, with proven performance on par with a petrol engine. "This engine was launched last year, and many stakeholders, even foreign ones, have shown keen interest. I still remember that during our launch ceremony last year, representatives from Iran were eager to order a large number of units for use in government-owned vehicles," Barkawi noted. DOMINO EFFECT His group is still in negotiations with a local carmaker, and he hopes to soon see a completely indigenous car running on Malaysian roads using natural gas. Some day, these cars will become Malaysia’s ubiquitous reality, suggested Barkawi, leaving no room for doubt that his dream is realistic. "It will be good for the industry. Once a 100 percent natural gas-run vehicle is available, there will be a domino effect. The production of more of these vehicles would automatically lead to an increase in the number of refuelling stations and users, which, in turn, would lead to the production of even more vehicles. "Malaysia may soon have on its hands a product so good that overseas markets will be vying for it too," he explained. In reality, growth in this area in Malaysia is slower than in other countries. But the fact that the number of vehicle owners opting for natural gas engines is steadily increasing despite all the apparent impediments says something positive about the change. GOING GREEN Going green has captured the imagination of the people. Today, almost all 37,000 taxis in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur use a natural gas engine. One can safely say Malaysian cabbies are in the forefront of making a better planet with less carbon emissions besides opting for a cheaper alternative fuel. But a CNG taxi does not exist in a vacuum. Apart from the need for engine manufacturers, CNG kit-fitting mechanics, government support for this kind of fuel, and a nation inclined to make the switch, the push for NGVs required a huge infrastructural network of refuelling stations. If these stations were spaced too far apart, then the NGV natural gas powered vehicle idea could have burned out before it even took off. Infrastructure-wise, Pakistan leads the world, with 3,285 refuelling stations. Surely, the NGV is an idea whose time has come. Barkawi remarked that Malaysia’s experience with NGVs had elicited keen interest from foreign countries like Nigeria, Bosnia and Kazakhstan which had all started on NGVs. Networking is the hallmark of the green movement. As such, it is no surprise that after a while, NGV users in Malaysia wanted to talk to like-minded people to talk about their machines, on-road experiences, efficient mechanics, mileage, customer reactions, and so on. By May last year, a collaborative group of markers was set up on Google Maps (http://goo.gl/maps/7Inj), allowing the general public to locate natural-gas stations in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. To date, the grouping of markers has garnered 22,662 views and a 5-star rating. In June 2012, engineer Bakhtiar Ahamid came up with the ‘NGV Locator,’ a smartphone application that uses information culled from the Google Maps grouping. "I am not an NGV user myself and only started this for a friend, who is now an avid user," he told Bernama of his "weekend project, adding that the application has been downloaded and installed by 3,198 people, with 23 percent of the users hailing from Thailand. The word, clearly, is spreading. MALAYSIA BOLEH For Bakhtiar, Malaysia can emerge as a major player, promoting the use of natural gas in automobiles, not just in South East Asia, but also across the world. In Malaysia, people are increasingly accepting NGVs. Of course, we still lag far behind Thailand, but we have an advantage in the form of natural resources that Thailand doesn’t have. "In the region, say in Myanmar or Indonesia, the trend is fast on the rise. With vast opportunities yet to be explored, we can play an important role in steering growth when it comes to alternative fuel-propelled vehicles and other related infrastructure in these countries," he explained. For the record, except for Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand, no South East Asian country had more than 6,000 NGVs as at end 2011. Singapore reported only 5,577, followed by Indonesia, with 5,520 units, while Vietnam and Philippines trailed with less than 300 vehicles each. "Looking at this data, it is clear that Malaysia is, indeed, strategically positioned and equipped with technological expertise, know-how on deployment, and on top of everything else, its own natural-gas reserves," Barkawi said, capping his arguments. But what about the West, where supporting the environment is a contentious political issue? Bakhtiar sees a market there. Since most vehicles in the West that are fitted with natural gas-enabled engines have trudged the roads for 20 years now, sooner or later their engines will need to be replaced. That will open a huge new market for green vehicles, CNG, mechanics, and concomitant ancillary trade. But like most pragmatic green activists who understand the cause and how to wed it to the market, Barkawi is realistic to the core, and that’s what will make Malaysia’s story a success. "Since ours is a country with huge natural gas reserves and expertise from local carmakers such as Proton, the national car manufacturer, I hope we can start producing our own bi-fuelled engine, if not a full CNG engine, to capture these markets," he stated. But the country will have to take it one step at a time. With green fuel, a government to back the movement, a big dream, and a realistic approach, Malaysia has got it just right. Very soon, that lone, sputtering natural gas-powered taxi will be stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and all other slowly moving cars may also be natural gas powered vehicles. How’s that for a green dream? -- BERNAMA