Brunei's Local News - Brudirect.com

Bandar Seri Begawan - An Initiative is being carried out to provide a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to fuel, which will ultimately see consumers pay less for the liter and the government saving on annual fuel subsidies.

Local entrepreneur from Asiatek SDN BHD, Abd Mutalif Md Tahir, has been working closely over the last two years with relevant figures from both the public and private sectors to carry out a project aimed at tackling the global issue of rising fuel costs. "The impact for Brunei Darussalam isn't so great yet," Mutalihighlighted, "but in the future there is a high chance that we will feel more than juts a pinch."

His team is utilizing a technology that transforms ordinary liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) into compressed natural gas (CNG), which is cheaper, safer and more environmentally friendly. However, in order to utilize this technology, cars will have to he outfitted with conversion kits, he pointed out.

There will be conversion kits that we need to appoint several workshops to install, so we are looking lift workshops who are interested in providing this service," Mutatif said.

Apart from outfitting cars with the conversion kit, motorists intending on powering their vehicles with CNG will also have to refuel at separate stations.

"The first stations will he located somewhere along Jalan Berakas. And we aim to begin operations by the end of 2009," he said.

Mutalif has brought this technology to the attention of the Ministry of Communications, which is fully supporting the initiative. "The support is there. They have no objections. It is a private initiative and we still have to abide by the government regulations," he said.

He pointed out that the technology has been around for 15 years. "I travel a lot and see that there is nothing to stop us from utilizing this technology," he added.

He plans to buy the gas needed 1hr conversion directly from the plants, which will then be transported to the CNG stations through a "mother-daughter" concept using regular gas tanker's.

The project cost for building the first station at Berakas is set around $6 million, which includes the cost of purchasing two tankers required for fuel transportation.

"We need people to start thinking. Using gas is far cheaper than using the fuel we currently use. We expect people to pay 50 per cent less than pump prices today. $10 worth of regular fuel will equal $20 of CNG fuel."

The conversion kit required has been estimated to cost around $3,800. It will allow the driver to select between regular fuel and CNG at the flip of a switch. "So if you find that you run out of fuel while on your way home from Miri, you can just switch to CNG"

Last year alone, the government spent $200 million on fuel subsidies, which Mutalif said could have been used for other developments.

"In the long run, it will save both the consumers and government a lot of money. We are responding the global issue of rising fuel costs. Our target is by the year 2020, Brunei will have some 30,000 vehicles converted to use CNG," he added.

Other countries have long employed the technology. In Argentina, over 100,000 cars are currently running on CNG. And in neighboring Malaysia, 32,000 cars are powered by CNG. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin