Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Promoting Natural Gas Vehicles

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BOGOTA, Mar 25 2006 (IPS) - The private company Gas Natural S.A. announced investments of around 4.4 million dollars over three years to develop a conversion program so that vehicles in the Colombian capital and surrounding communities can run on natural gas. The private company Gas Natural S.A. announced investments of around 4.4 million dollars over three years to develop a conversion program so that vehicles in the Colombian capital and surrounding communities can run on natural gas.

Rafael Mateus, public relations manager for the company, told Tierramérica that the resources are earmarked for building and adapting fueling stations for natural gas, installing monitoring centers and importing compressors.

For this year, the company's goal is to build 60 natural gas filling stations, which will give Bogotá a total of 91 such stations, and enable more people to drive cars based on a cleaner fuel — one that produces less “greenhouse” gases that contribute to global warming.

On Colombia's roads and streets today, there are about 100,000 vehicles running on natural gas.