Natural Gas Vehicles

Natural gas vehicles are cars designed to use compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) for propulsion instead of the traditional favourite - fossil fuel.

Existing petrol and diesel-powered vehicles can be converted to allow CNG or LPG to be used to power them - in fact, some vehicles now feature bi-fuel engines, meaning they can run on either gasoline or CNG.

As of September 2011, there were around 12.6 million natural gas vehicles in use worldwide, although these were mostly to be found in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, according to figures from Pike Research.

Although in the west such vehicles are largely relegated to the fleet market or, in some cases, public transport, worldwide sales of natural gas vehicles are expected to increase significantly.

Pike Research estimates that sales will hit 3.2 million units annually by 2016, up from 1.9 million in 2010. But take-up is expected to occur largely in corporate and government circles.