WOQOD praises Mowasalat's initiative for LPG fuelled taxis

Notes and media contacts

Some facts about LPG as a fuel for road vehicles

• LPG today is safely used as a fuel for over 11 million cars, buses and trucks world wide and is sold through in excess of 43,000 service stations globally. Its generic name is "Autogas".
• The trend for vehicles using Autogas is growing faster than gasoline vehicles, at least by 5% annually.
• Autogas is widely available in South Korea, Italy, Australia, the USA, Poland, Turkey, Japan, Mexico and more recently in the United Kingdom.
• Poland has more than 2 million vehicles running on Autogas, followed by South Korea (1.7 million), Turkey (1.5 million), and Italy ( 1 million).
• Autogas is the most widely used alternative road fuel. It is especially favoured by vehicle fleet operators as it offers a lower cost fuel compared to gasoline and in most markets diesel.
• It offers significantly lower emission of regulated and unregulated pollutants compared to gasoline and diesel and therefore widely used is an opportunity to improve urban air quality.
• Autogas fuelled vehicles are quieter and therefore their use reduces noise pollution.
• Typically Autogas is available at service stations through just another dispenser under the fuels canopy. For Mowasalat there will be a dedicated area with dispensers for LPG within their fuelling station in the Industrial Area.

Conversion of gasoline engine vehicles

• Gasoline engines can be converted to run on both gasoline and Autogas. Typically when a car starts from cold it runs on gasoline and then automatically switches to Autogas once the engine warms.
• Conversion from gasoline to Autogas is safe, easy and economic. A typical conversion costs about $1,500 and takes about half a day to complete. For a conversion the Autogas tank is typically fitted into the boot area reserved for the vehicle spare tyre.
• All major car manufacturers make duel fuel vehicles in their factories and sell these to Autogas markets.
• Autogas tanks fitted to vehicles are manufactured to resist vehicle crashes and will not puncture if a vehicle is involved in a road accident.
• Autogas conversions have to be carried out by approved and certified companies that WOQOD will identify with the help of the appropriate government departments, especially the Department of Civil Defence.

WOQOD's future planning for Autogas

• Once the trial with Mowasalat has been assessed, WOQOD will initially look to market Autogas to large fleet operators of gasoline engines and build dedicated dispensers for these customers on their premises.
• If market demand is assured through market research, WOQOD will consider offering Autogas as an alternative fuel to the general public and will ensure conversions are safely carried out through approved companies. Autogas will then be available from selected WOQOD service stations.
• WOQOD will also work with local car agencies and dealers to assess the potential for the import of duel fuel vehicles that are factory built.
• There is a plentiful source of supply for LPG from the refineries in Qatar.
• The pump price for Autogas will most likely be fixed at QR 0.65 per liter, making the fuel cheaper than gasoline and diesel today. This is to encourage users to switch to Autogas.