German Industry Establishes LNG Task Force
An agreement to establish a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) task force has been signed in Germany. Partners German Energy Agency (dena), the German Association for Gas and Water (DVGW) and the industry initiative Future ERDGAS (natural gas) intend to jointly develop the foundations for the introduction of LNG as a fuel in the German market.
The agreement was signed in Berlin this week by the Chairman of dena Managing Director, Andreas Kuhlmann, DVGW-CEO Prof. Dr. Gerald Linke, and Dr. TimmKehler on behalf of the Management Board of Future ERDGAS. The LNG Task Force is part of the existing natural gas mobility initiative, which brings together car manufacturers, service station operators, as well as natural gas and biogas industry and is coordinated by dena.
The partners intend to jointly remove market barriers, put forward policy recommendations, develop standards and norms, initiate projects, implement a minimum infrastructure and provide information about national LNG activities. Up to now a suitable national competence place was absent for this in Germany, the partners explained. The Task Force under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Transport and digital infrastructure (BMVI) will now close this gap.
“The purpose of the Federal Government is to accelerate the market entry of LNG for heavy duty vehicles. We want to enable affordable, clean and safe mobility in the future and broaden the fuel base. That is why we promote LNG as an environmentally friendly and competitively priced alternative to conventional fuels in the logistics sector,” said Norbert Barthle, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport and digital infrastructure.
In the first step dena, DVGW and Future GAS will develop on behalf of BMVI recommendations for action as part of the national mobility and fuel strategy. Pressure for action exists within the EU guideline published in October, 2014 which calls for the construction of alternative fuels infratructure.
Kehler explains: “In the heavy traffic over long distances there is still no alternative to Diesel. With LNG, we change that. We want to show that we can organize the transport cheaper and more environmentally friendly if the conditions are right. If this evidence is out, we can develop the market. ”
In the next step, the partners of the LNG Task Force will go to the relevant market actors from the LNG supply, infrastructure, logistics and transport equipment to tune the first steps towards the launch of LNG.
https://www.ngvglobal.com/blog/german-industry-establishes-lng-task-force-1203
