Russia to ditch petrol in favour of methane

© The KremlinLittle happens is Russia without the president's approval. Luckily for CNG, he's in favour of the fuel

Double savings

According to president Putin, using natural gas instead of conventional fuels brought significant savings to Gazprom and not just through lower bills. In fact, the problem of notorious fuel thefts (on part of the company's own drivers) was practically eradicated. With methane it's practically impossible to resell fuel purchased with company credit or debit cards. Apparently the same could happen if other fleets around the country switched to the gaseous fuel.

The reasonable choice

Drivers' integrity aside, natural gas is still the most economically reasonable, environmentally friendly and safe fossil fuel available in Russia. Gazprom provides the fuel in two basic forms: as CNG (compressed) and LNG (liquefied). The former is used for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, while the latter (due to higher energy density) is best suited in heavy trucks, buses, rail and maritime transport, as well as stationary and agricultural machinery.

Gaseous fuel is more environmentally friendly. We have it in abundance and that's our advantage. We can use natural gas locally and export oil and its byproducts instead, especially since it offers a larger profit margin.

Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation

With a little help from their friends

We can expect natural gas to be increasingly promoted as preferred motor fuel in Russia in the years to come. Foreign companies want to be a part of the upcoming revolution, too – Volkswagen announced in May, 2017 that it is in talks with Gazprom to jointly popularise methane as valuable and economical substitute to petrol and diesel.