CNG first for Caltex

Caltex recently marked the opening of its first Australian service station to offer Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), with the Caltex Star Mart site in Tullamarine, Victoria, now offering the alternative alongside its mainstream fuels.

Caltex Australia has partnered with AGL Energy Limited to bring the niche fuel to the site, spearheading a push to develop a wider network – first in Australia's eastern states, then nationally.

The alternative fuel is essentially natural gas compressed to less than one per cent of its normal volume at standard atmospheric pressure. It's said to be a cleaner-burning and more cost-effective option when compared to regular fuels.

Not to be confused with LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) or LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas), CNG is claimed by AGL to be safer and better for the environment. It has a higher ignition point than diesel and simply dissipates into the atmosphere in the event of a rupture. AGL also claims it can reduce lifecycle (well to wheel) carbon dioxide vehicle fleet emissions by up to 20 per cent, with potentially even greater reductions of other harmful emissions.

Also of benefit is Australia's own vast reserves of natural gas, making CNG a secure option that's largely immune to the vagaries and fluctuations of the international oil market.

At present CNG is largely only available to commercial fleets with their own on-site refuelling facilities, although it is also available at a handful of public outlets.

A 7-Eleven service station in the Sydney suburb of Moorebank offers CNG as does an AGL site in Canberra, while it's been available for over five years at an independent service station owned by specialist business, OES CNG, which also does passenger car conversions.

Bar the relatively small number of converted passenger cars in Australia, CNG vehicles are mainly restricted to the commercial sector. However, Caltex's Executive General Manager Commercial, Bruce Rosengarten (pictured, fuelling truck), says the fuel company is paving the way for future factory-built CNG cars.

"While commercial trucks, buses and machinery represent the vast majority of the 3000 existing CNG vehicles operating nationally, building this type of refuelling infrastructure will give motorists with compatible vehicles access to the niche fuel too," he said.

"There is a growing trend toward natural gas with more than 13 million vehicles powered by the fuel globally.

"In Australia a major barrier is the lack of new vehicles designed to use the fuel and, as a result, there has not been demand for refuelling facilities.

"By opening the Tullamarine CNG facility, Caltex and AGL will ensure the alternative fuel is available to motorists if and when it is needed, while meeting the needs of existing commercial customers."

AGL first announced its intentions to roll out a public CNG network at Melbourne's International Truck, Trailer & Equipment Show in 2014. At the time it said over 120,000 trucks were running on CNG in the US, and that potentially as many as 30 per cent of that country's truck fleet could be running on the fuel by the end of this decade.

AGL Executive General Manager New Energy, Marc England, said the company was thrilled to be working with Caltex to bring CNG to the wider public.

"This partnership can help businesses focus on cost effectiveness and enable them to reduce their environmental footprints, so we believe it is a smart choice for fleet companies," he said.

Isuzu Australia Limited is one truck manufacturer to offer CNG models locally (the FSR 700 and FSR 800), while globally most major truck and bus manufacturers and indeed automotive manufacturers in general produce CNG vehicles.

CNG has not just sprung from nowhere, despite its limited application in Australia. Victoria's Gas and Fuel Corporation was experimenting with CNG for diesel-engined trucks decades ago, and Volvo introduced its S70 Bi-Fuel sedan back in the late 1990s.

But with the exception of the bus industry, CNG as an alternative fuel has been largely overlooked in Australia. However, if Caltex and AGL are successful, it seems Australia will soon be following most other parts of the developed world in adding CNG to existing fuel options, which in turn could well hasten the local introduction of CNG passenger cars.

Pictured: Marc England of AGL, Bruce Rosengarten of Caltex and Mark Witteman of Toll