page_title: Compressed natural gas
section_title: Europe
hierarchical_section_title: Compressed natural gas / Worldwide / Europe
caption_attribution_description: MAN NL 243 CNG LC (Wagen 553) der VAG Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft Nürnberg.
context_page_description: Compressed natural gas is a fuel that can be used in place of gasoline, diesel fuel and liquefied petroleum gas. CNG combustion produces fewer undesirable gases than the aforementioned fuels. In comparison to other fuels, natural gas poses less of a threat in the event of a spill, because it is lighter than air and disperses quickly when released. Biomethane — refined biogas from anaerobic digestion or landfills — can be used.
  CNG is made by compressing natural gas, which is mainly composed of methane, to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of 20–25 MPa, usually in cylindrical or spherical shapes.
  CNG is used in traditional gasoline/internal combustion engine automobiles that have been modified or in vehicles specifically manufactured for CNG use, either alone, with a segregated gasoline system to extend range or in conjunction with another fuel such as diesel.
context_section_description: In Italy, there are more than 1173 CNG stations. The use of methane for vehicles, started in the 1930s and has continued off and on until today. Since 2008 there have been a large market expansion for natural gas vehicles (CNG and LPG) caused by the rise of gasoline prices and by the need to reduce air pollution emissions. Before 1995 the only way to have a CNG-powered car was by having it retrofitted with an after-market kit. A large producer was Landi Renzo, Tartarini Auto, Prins Autogassystemen, OMVL, BiGAs,... and AeB for electronic parts used by the most part of kit producer. Landi Renzo and Tartarini selling vehicles in Asia and South America. After 1995 bi-fuel cars (gasoline/CNG) became available from several major manufacturers. Currently Fiat, Opel, Volkswagen, Citroën, Renault, Volvo and Mercedes sell various car models and small trucks that are gasoline/CNG powered. Usually CNG parts used by major car manufacturers are actually produced by automotive aftermarket kit manufacturers, e.g. Fiat use Tartarini Auto components, Volkswagen use Teleflex GFI and Landi Renzo components.
  In Belgium CNG is a very new fuel. At the beginning of 2014 there were only 17 refuelling stations, all of them in Flanders, but the number is now increasing rapidly. At the beginning of 2015 there were 29 refueling stations in Belgium, all of them in Flanders. As of January 2017, there are 76 active refueling stations in Belgium, most of them being in Flanders since only 7 of them are in Wallonia or Brussels. As a fuel and compared to petrol, CNG has an advantageous fiscal treatment with lower excises duties (although VAT is always paid). Since CNG, as a car fuel, is not totally exempted of excise duties, CNG cars do not pay a prime road tax to partially compensate the State for the loss of revenue. Instead LPG cars pay a prime road tax in Belgium, because LPG is totally exempted from excise duties. Since CNG is not totally exempted of excise duties, in Belgium it is allowed to connect a car to the home network of natural gas and to refuel the car from home. The purchase of CNG cars is not subsidised by the government, but by the Belgian producers and distributors of natural gas. Fiat and Volkswagen sell factory-equipped CNG-cars in Belgium. At the end of 2018 there were 11,188 vehicles running with CNG in Belgium.
  In Germany, CNG-generated vehicles are expected to increase to two million units of motor-transport by the year 2020. The cost for CNG fuel is between 1/3 and 1/2 compared to other fossil fuels in Europe. In 2016 there are around 900 CNG stations in Germany and major German car manufacturers like Volkswagen, Mercedes, Opel, Audi offer CNG engines on most of their models. Augsburg is one of the few cities that only run CNG operated public buses since 2011.
  In Turkey, Ankara municipality is increasingly using CNG buses, where numbers have reached 1090 by 2011. Istanbul has started in 2014 with an order of 110 buses. Konya also added 60 buses to its fleet the same year.
  In Portugal there are 9 CNG refueling stations as of September 25, 2017.
  In Hungary there are four public CNG refueling stations in the cities Budapest, Szeged, Pécs and Győr. The public transportation company of Szeged runs buses mainly on CNG.
  In Bulgaria, there are 96 CNG refueling stations as of July 2011. One can be found in most of Bulgaria's big towns. In the capital Sofia there are 22 CNG stations making it possibly the city with the most publicly available CNG stations in Europe. There are also quite a few in Plovdiv, Ruse, Stara Zagora and Veliko Tarnovo as well as in the towns on the Black Sea – Varna, Burgas, Nesebar and Kavarna. CNG vehicles are becoming more and more popular in the country. The fuel is mostly used by taxi drivers because of its much lower price compared to petrol. Currently (as of July, 2015) the city of Sofia is rapidly renewing its public transport fleet with MAN Lion's City buses running on CNG. Also, many companies switch to CNG cargo vans and even heavy trucks for their daily operations within city limits.
  In North Macedonia, t
caption: CNG powered bus in Germany
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