We continue to support sustainable mobility
Using natural gas as fuel for vehicles is a more economical and less polluting alternative, compared to fuels derived from petroleum, and it can also be used in every type of vehicle: light automobiles, utilitarian and cargo vehicles, trucks and buses.
It is an economically competitive fuel, compared to traditional fuels like diesel or gasoline, and it also reduces harmful gas emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) by about 30 per cent, compared to gasoline. It also reduces particulate material emissions, which are closely related to respiratory diseases, by more than 90 per cent.
Promigas has been promoting its use for more than 30 years and has played an active role, in conjunction with agents in the VNG supply chain, in consolidating a supply chain that is capable of benefiting potential users, as a result of which there is today a wide range of service stations in Colombia that serve more than 200,000 vehicles, including 3,000 in the areas of mass passenger and heavy cargo transportation.
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| The VNG business did not escape the effects of the pandemic in 2020. The significant, sudden fall in liquid fuel prices in March affected the economic benefit that VNG offers diesel or gasoline users under normal conditions (the 45 per cent saving compared to gasoline fell to around 30 per cent); additionally, the decline in mobility in the cities where we operate affected the number of active VNG light vehicles and also average fuel consumption, especially from March to June. The pandemic period started with 70 per cent contractions, compared to figures for 12 months earlier, and the year ended with that figure at 20 per cent, meaning that the overall volume of sales for 2020 was 30 per cent down on the figure for 2019.
Action that was taken in order to mitigate the situation and stimulate continuity in the use of this clean fuel included special gas supply contract negotiations with service stations, aimed at avoiding VNG price increases, and expanding the incentives granted to potential users, in order to facilitate their access to VNG, and to active users so that they would continue to use it; additionally, communication and relationship activities with our customers were intensified. Despite the difficult situation in the sector, in the heavy cargo transportation sector we succeeded in getting 50 vehicles running on VNG to enter service in the Surtigas and GdO areas of influence. |
