What Is the Natural Gas Vehicle Network? - EU Skills

What Is the Natural Gas Vehicle Network?

The Natural Gas Vehicle Network (NGV) was launched by the Energy & Utility Skills Group (EU Skills Group) in 2014 to highlight the many benefits of gas power vehicles.

The NGV Network facilitates collaboration between organisations within the Natural Gas industry in the UK in order to drive growth in the industry.

Neil Robertson, Chief Executive of the Energy & Utility Skills Group says, “The Natural Gas Vehicle Network adds real value through its wide range of experienced members. By bringing together experts and influential industry figures, the Network provides a sustainable opportunity to create and innovate products, influence policy makers, as well as further develop skills and ultimately drive growth, through the creation of a vibrant industry.”

Increasing interest in natural gas as an alternative vehicle fuel will be channelled by the EU Skills Group into organisations including National Grid, Calor Gas and CNG Services who are working together to drive forward the development of the NGV market in the UK, focused on trucks and buses.

Neil Robertson added, “Gas is demonstrably the cheapest, cleanest fuel for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) and buses. The Network is going to help show people how to make the switch. We will provide a sector focus and will influence policy makers, encourage collaboration, as well as bringing together leading experts and influential industry figures. We are seeing the creation of a vibrant new industry.”

Richard Court, Head of Stakeholder Delivery at National Grid, one of the founder organisations in the NGV Network said, “The Network will provide a fabulous platform to maximise the potential of natural gas vehicles. By working together, we can innovate and make best use of existing infrastructure such as the gas distribution networks, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) capabilities and develop a new workforce with new skills. We must also lobby policy makers to create the right environment to make sure gas vehicles play their role in meeting the UK’s transport needs.”

The UK is currently going through a transitional phase, whereby legislation has been passed to set a target to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) by at least 80% by 2050. This sits in conjunction with a shorter term EU commitment to reduce GHG emissions by 10% across all transportation fuels by 2020.

These changes in legislation offer great potential for the future of the natural gas vehicles market both through CNG and LNG, and with a high-quality gas pipeline infrastructure, the UK can now find itself in the driving seat with regard to the distribution of natural gas use in vehicles.

A short video which explains the benefits of using Natural Gas Vehicles in the UK is available to download on YouTube.

If you’re an employer who operates a fleet of vehicles and are interested in finding out more, please get in touch with Lucy Ritchie, Regional Client Manager on: 07850 203 755, email lucy.ritchie@euskills.co.uk.