India’s top gas importer Petronet LNG says that it anticipates LNG-powered ships to significantly augment demand for LNG in an effort to help the country improve its air quality.
Prabhat Singh, Managing Director, Petronet LNG, stated that he expects a shift to LNG-driven vehicles to create “reasonable demand” for the fuel in a country where many industries are not yet linked to the pipe grid. India currently lags Asian rival China, where thousands of trucks and buses already run on LNG.
New Delhi wants to raise the use of gas in its energy mix to 15 percent in three to four years from 6.5 percent now to curb emissions and cut its dependence on imported oil.
To meet that goal, it is expanding the gas distribution network in cities linked to the grid and plans to run inland barges and trains on LNG.
Reuters reports that the government may issue an order in the coming week allowing the use of LNG as a transport fuel, adding LNG stations were cheaper to build as the fuel is trucked in and so doesn’t require pipelines.