Natural gas to power SA taxis?
21 January 2003
The South African taxi and fleet industries now have the cheaper, cleaner option of gas for fuel following the launch of the first gas filling station in Cape Town in December by black economic empowerment company Kulani Africa Gas.
The search for alternative fuel systems in the automotive industry has been going on for many years. Chris Roed, an engineer who is also one of the directors of Kulani Africa Gas, has long been researching the global market for an alternative, inexpensive source of fuel.
During his travels abroad, he tested vehicles running on liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and, after witnessing the cost and environmental benefits, became convinced that it was the way to go. After researching the South African minibus taxi market, Roed became even more convinced that LPG was the "petrol" of the future.
Roed says that in Japan, for example, the entire taxi industry is running on gas, and believes that South Africa may be heading
in the same direction.
"Kulani Gas will amount to a saving of 25% off the price of petrol, which translates to a saving of 40% if you take into account the tax payable on that", says Vuyo Gcilishe, CEO of Kulani.
"LPG is already used extensively in the USA, Asia and Europe, and has a proven track record in Australia, where almost one in every four vehicles is converted. We are very excited about the potential for Kulani Gas in South Africa", says Gcilishe.
The process of getting a vehicle retro-fitted to run on gas as well as petrol is a relatively simple and cost-effective - especially considering that it costs about a third less to run on gas. South African taxi drivers could save up to R1 per litre in the long run, according to Kulani.
The country has more than 120 000 registered minibus taxis belonging to approximately 120 taxi associations and providing transport for the bulk of South Africa's commuters. Taxis tend to work 12-hour shifts, travel long
distances and have extremely high fuel consumption.
If just this sector of the transport industry switched from petrol to LPG, the effect on the environment alone would be remarkable", Kulani said in a statement.
"LPG is much 'greener' than both petrol and diesel, contains no carcinogenic benzene, and emits virtually no particulates. LPG requires no choke at start-up, so there are no harmful unburnt fuel emissions. Unlike petrol, it contains no lead, no acid-producing sulphur, and produces much reduced amounts of nitrous oxides.
"As it is a gas, there are no unvapourised fuel droplets that remain partially burnt and leave carbon deposits, a problem with petrol to an extent. And as the gas system is blended with the air some distance before entering the combustion chamber, you get a very consistently mixed mixture to burn. This means a cleaner and more efficient combustion and also a very smooth idle with no hint of any unevenness that even the best petrol systems
fail to meet.
"A small switch fitted next to the steering wheel allows the driver to alternate between gas and petrol, so if the vehicle runs out of gas, you simply switch back to petrol if there is no Kulani filling station nearby."
Kulani Africa Gas aims to provide a cost-effective and viable service to the community, and to establish the company as a socially responsible entity by redistributing a percentage of its profits to growth projects in townships around South Africa.
Source: Kulani Africa Gas
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