Liquified natural gas
Liquified natural gas is one of the cleanest fuels, an environmentally friendly energy product with many advantages, significantly contributing to a low-carbon society.
CONTACT USThe use of liquified natural gas or LNG dates back to the year 1970; since then, the global use of the energy source has increased a hundredfold.
The advantages of natural gas in its liquified form, boasting very low temperatures, can primarily be seen in transport. This is because large quantities of energy can be stored in small spaces, with supply where no pipelines exist, via transport by maritime logistics routes.
Cleaner energy and a greater transport vehicle range
A major increase in the use of liquified natural gas has been recorded in transport, where the technology has been developed to power internal combustion engines and support higher volume engines. Exceptional growth of LNG use is expected in freight transport, bus and coach transport, rail transport, and especially in shipping. In Italy, more than 1,000 new cargo vehicles powered by LNG are thus already recorded.
The advantage of using LNG in transport, when compared with diesel fuel, is a cleaner, lower carbon use along with greater cargo vehicle operational range, with vehicles powered by LNG generating almost three quarters less noise.
| Compressed natural gas | Liquified natural gas | Diesel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area of use | Industry, transport, remote heating systems, heating | Transport and storage for peak demand | |
| Storage | High pressure and normal temperature | Normal pressure and low temperature | |
| Energy value (MJ/kg) | 49.53 | 46.13 | 43 |
| Price (€/kg) | 0.92 | 1.255 | 1.449 |
| Price(€/kWh) | 0.067 | 0.098 | 0.1212 |
| Source: Laboratory for heat piston machines at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, and own calculations. Energy prices as of March 13, 2017. | |||
Petrol, leading the way to a low-carbon society
The use of LNG has evolved primarily in transport and major industries and in remote heating systems. For the needs of the industry and larger system users, a network of storage or factories for peak demand is being set up, the so-called LNG Peak Shaving Plants.
At Petrol, we are developing our own network of filling infrastructure for alternative propellants, supporting our vision of comprehensive management and a low carbon society.