CNG News: 27th April 2009

Russian new NGV Caravan 'Blue Corridor'

In order to promote the Blue Corridors introduced by Russia and the use of gas motor fuel, a Caravan of CNG vehicles started this month in Russia, with the route “Moscow - Rostov-on-Don - Krasnodar - Novorossiysk- Sochi”, already reaching Novorossiysk and has already done 1500 kilometers. The final phase to Sochi is 240 kilometers through mountains. This Caravan is aimed at attracting attention of regional, municipal administrations, car manufacturers, heads of transport companies, representatives of mass media and wide publicity to natural gas as the cheapest, environmentally and technically safe and affordable hydrocarbon fuel, and wide publicity. The organizers, Gazprom, VNIIGAZ, Gazprom transgaz Kuban, Russian Gas Society and the National Gas Vehicle Association of Russia, said that the objective of this Caravan is to show the advantages of using natural gas as motor fuel, which is already becoming the world trend. It’s organized by.The Caravan’s starting point is Moscow, it will stop in Rostov-on-Don for Don Oil & Gas Congress and then proceed to Sochi for the XIX joint session of Commission of RF Government and Russian Gas Society on the use of natural and liquefied petroleum gas as motor fuel. The Caravan participants – scientists, engineers, investigators – will have an opportunity to demonstrate the advantages of NGVs, produced by leading manufacturers, and will learn about the advanced experience of using CNG in the regions. The Caravan is composed of 17 OEM NGVs and two retrofitted vehicles (one of them is a pilot Hytane van), that is filled at mother stations as well as by the CNG carriers. The concept of international “Blue Corridors” introduced by Russia, a project of building international motorways, designed for heavy and light NGVs, aimed at solving European social, economic and environmental problems, is approaching the stage of practical implementation.