Dubai: Motorists in Dubai will be able to choose from 15 stations to fill up their converted cars with compressed natural gas — an environmentally friendly alternative to petrol or diesel — in the next five years, bringing down their carbon footprint at the same time.

During the first International Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) Conference held in Dubai on Sunday, Emirates Gas, a subsidiary of Enoc, laid out its plans to supply more than 11,000 cubic metres of natural gas every day for vehicles.

While the majority of government vehicles are being targeted in the initial phase, it is expected that only 20 per cent of private car owners will be encouraged to convert their cars, said Fazal Ali Khan, CNG development manager at Emirates Gas.

Two mother-stations will be located on opposite sides of the city, connected to an existing natural gas pipeline. However, as the pipe's infrastructure is limited, Emirates Gas will develop smaller daughter-stations that will be refuelled with gas via tankers, said Khan.

Dubai Municipality has already announced it has converted five cars to CNG and will monitor the advantages and disadvantages over the next 12 months. A quantity of CNG provided by Emirates Gas will be earmarked specifically for municipal buses.

"We will have daughter-stations at fleet owner's premises. We hope to attract Dubai Municipality, police and customs departments and other bodies that operate vehicles to convert to natural gas," said Khan.

A couple of already existing Enoc stations will be equipped with CNG to complement coverage in certain areas. Public vehicles will be able to use them if required, said Khan.

By phase 2, due to commence in 2016, Emirates Gas plans to have six mother-stations, 19 online stations and 11 daughter-stations.

Cheaper than petrol

"A study we conducted in 2008-2009 found that CNG will enhance the economy as it's foreseen that natural gas will be cheaper than petrol," said Khan. Safety and the environment were also among the benefits. Currently, natural gas is 30 per cent cheaper than gasoline.

A comparison between two Nissan Altima cars powered with equal quantities of fuel found that the car on petrol produced 138kg of Co2 over 420km compared to the car running on CNG which travelled 105km and produced 107kg of CO2.

"That 31kg of CO2 makes tremendous savings over the year, 136797.8 metric tonnes of CO2 would be saved annually," said Khan.

Several car manufacturers such as Honda, Mercedes, Volvo or Fiat all produce clean gas vehicles, added Khan, however it all depends on the dealerships in the UAE whether or not those specific cars will be imported here to give buyers a choice.

Change your car to improve environment

Converting your car from petrol or diesel to more environment friendly compressed natural gas can cost up to Dh10,000 but will reduce emission by nearly 70 per cent, said Sharun Viswanathan, project engineer from CG Tech.

The company has converted approximately 150 cars across the UAE since 2005 and project that this will double in the next 12 months.

Depending on the type of car and engine cylinders it has, the retrofit could cost between Dh4,700 and Dh10,000.

A steel cylinder 1cm thick is placed in the trunk of the car in just a couple of hours. The cylinder can hold 40 to 80 litres and is refilled in minutes.

All cars still have a gasoline tank that can be used in emergency or for back up.