Experts drawn from the petroleum and gas industry, have canvassed the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, otherwise known as cooking gas as a way out of the high cost of fuel due to subsidy removal.
They tabled their opinions at the CNG/LPG/LNG conversion training programme organised by Autolady Engineering Technology Limited-Autogas Nigeria in collaboration with EuroLPG Netherlands/Nigeria & Nigerian Women for Gas and Green Initiative (NW4GGi) in Abuja.
Addressing newsmen, Chairman, National Gas Expansion Programme, NGEP, Dr. Mohammed, Ibrahim, said it was imperative Nigeria began to embrace the use of cooking gas for vehicles, and generators.
He noted that the use of cooking gas poses a greater advantage for Nigerians, explaining that it was cost effective and affordable for Nigerians to use.
According to him, “The delay in the use of gas, is about the anxiety in using it to power prime movers and big/small generators and also vehicles.
“What I normally tell people is do people cook with LPG gas? Then I asked does anybody cook with petrol? That clearly shows that gas is safe to use.
“There is a need to migrate from the use of fuel to gas. With the removal of subsidy, price of fuel will keep increasing. People need to migrate to the various streams of gas, which include auto gas which is also called auto LPG.
“The gas we use in our homes can also be used for vehicles and generators. While at the same time, we can also use Liquefied Natural Gas which is the LNG for long distance vehicles. If the vehicle is going to about 2,000 kilometres without fuelling, it is advised that the vehicle should run on LNG.
“While for urban circulating, you can use either Compressed Natural Gas, CNG or LPG. But in the long run, we have to patronise the use of LPG otherwise known as cooking gas for locomotive use and also for empowering prime movers.
“We already have infrastructure for the dispensing of LPG in the country but we don’t have the adequate infrastructure for dispensing CNG and LNG in the country.
“For the infrastructure to set up, LPG is cheaper than that of CNG. If we are going to get a daughter CNG station for refilling of CNG in any station, we need about $300,000. While it is that most of filling stations in the country already have the facilities to dispense auto LPG”.
Speaking in the same vein, Hajiya Maryam Salisu Ibrahim, Chairperson, Nigerian Women for Gas and Green Initiative, NW4GGi, said the initiative for the training, was born out of the need to create awareness and equip enough technicians for the conversion.
She said, “What we are doing here today is to train our engineers on how to convert gas. We all know the cost of fuel today, we don’t have to be told to convert our vehicles because this is cost effective and it is safe. It is now our duty to create awareness and train people.
“Our prayer is for God to provide for Nigerians to be able to convert their vehicles so that we all have an enabling environment and that no one would lament about the petrol price”.
On her part, CEO Autolady Engineering Technology Limited, Engr. Joyce Daser-Adams, disclosed that an average conversion of a single four cylinder engine, would cost N460,000. She added that the price could be cheaper with time.
“There is no specific price but the current average conversion is about N460,000 for a four cylinder engine. With the removal of VAT by the federal government, we are hoping the price will reduce” she stated.
The experts had trained about 100 technicians on conversion in Lagos last week. While in Abuja, with the training going on, there are about 70-100 participants who are being trained on the conversion.
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