The natural gas vehicle sector is poised to enjoy substantial growth, according to a new report.
Pike Research has forecast that the number of natural gas vehicles on the road worldwide will grow to 17million vehicles by 2015 – an increase from 9.7million in 2008.
Currently, light duty natural gas vehicles are not readily available in North America and parts of Asia and are, in large areas, completely unavailable to private owners. However, in markets such as Argentina, Brazil, Iran, India and Pakistan, there is a significant number of light duty natural gas vehicles readily available.
The report from the cleantech market intelligence firm suggests that growth will vary in different countries and is dependent on a number of factors. The first is economics – the fuel must be cheaper than petrol/diesel to recover the initial cost of the vehicle; there are significant environmental benefits with substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions; the use of natural gas reduces the reliance on crude oil and imported refined gasoline; and there is a need for increased availability of the fuel, vehicles and repair technicians.
According to Dave Hurst of Pike Research, governments, fleet managers and consumers are increasingly recognising the environmental benefits of these cars. However, the lack of refuelling stations is holding back their development in many countries – in the regions where they are performing well, adoption is largely due to a number of existing refuelling stations, government subsidies and relatively inexpensive natural gas.
Despite growth for the market as a whole, the US market is expected to remain dominated by government and commercial customers.
