The International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles Presents
NGV2010Roma is sponsored by Eni and hosted by NGV System Italia
Wednesday, June 9
I A N GV A do pt s N GV Gl oba l Br a n d As Gozzi I s Voted i n as Chairman
The International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles has confirmed Gabriele Gozzi of Consorzio NGV System Italia and Italy’s Idromeccanica as its new chairman, effective for two years with the closing of the NGV2010 Roma conference and expo on Thursday. Also on Monday, IANGV decided to adopt NGV Global as its new brand. The successful NGV Global online news service will be known Gabriele Gozzi at Idromeccanica Stand B2 as NGV Global News. Along with these changes, the association voted in significant amendments to its rules. “Over the past 12 months we’ve identified some weaknesses in the structure of the organization and have addressed them,” executive director Brett Jarman told F&F. “One key change is we’ve made it easier for national and regional associEni is the ations to belong. And, we’ve more clearly defined the functions of Italy’s main sponsor of the board of directors [formerly the executive committee] and the NGV2010Roma general assembly” (formerly the council). Stand D10 A conference committee also has been formed, “to provide a framework for continued conference and event improvement,” Jarman said. Outgoing IANGV (and NGVAmerica) president Rich Kolodziej noted at Tuesday’s opening session that the presence of more than 41 countries at this week’s event (a number expected to grow) was the best possible indication of the strong growth of NGVs “all over the world.” “I urge all of you to take advantage of the expertise that’s here to grow your own NGV market,” Kolodziej said. “Expand the use of NGVs for your company and your country.” After a delay in the opening session yesterday, Kolodziej also commented, “This is the first conference that anyone has attended that started with the coffee break.” Creating a Revolution in Transport
Landi Renzo USA Thinking about the U.S. market? Landi Renzo has decided ‘the time is now.’ Page 2
Czechs Forge Ahead Government resolve credited for CNG use that’s growing at better than 25% per year. Page 3
Volvo Blesses Bi-Fuels V70 Upfits with Xperion Alpha CNG cylinders are being done by Volvo veterans in a Volvo plant. Page 4
S wa ge l ok Buy s R HP S
U.S. high-end fittings and couplings leader Swagelok has acquired The Netherlands’ RHPS. RHPS has more than 20 years’ experience designing and manufacturing a range of relief valves, back-pressure, and pressure reducing regulators,” Swagelok says. “The RHPS acquisition allows us to offer a more robust regulator portfolio,“ said Swagelok president and CEO Arthur Anton. Swagelok is at Stands B14 and (for Swagelok RHPS) F20.
LNG, says Peter Hendrickx of Rolande, is ‘Durable for the road.’ Page 3
NGV2010Roma in Italy
June 9
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Landi Renzo US A Is Born
Seeing a confluence of opportunities and the ability to bring both technical knowhow and economies of scale — with reduced costs — world gaseous fuel vehicles equipment leader Landi Renzo early this year established Landi Renzo USA as its ninth subsidiary company outside of Italy. “We believe we can offer an important contribuAndrea Landi tion by giving the United States the chance to take practical and economical benefits,” said Andrea Landi, president of Landi Renzo USA. Andrea Landi is the son of parent company president Stefano Landi, who is himself the son of founder Renzo Landi. He has established the new company in Torrance (Los Angeles), in a 22,000 square-foot (2,040 square-meter) facility, nearly three quarters of which is dedicated to the installation of alternative fuel systems on site. Although most of Landi Renzo’s world business is in bi-fuel vehicles, Landi Renzo USA will accommodate market demand with dedicated-CNG offerings, Andrea Landi says. He expects prices to come down (American aftermarket conversions are thought to be the world’s costliest) with
Landi Renzo USA president Andrea Landi with Rainer Zietlow in Torrance as the round-theworld CNG driver passed through California on his recent EcoFuel TransAmerica tour.
increased volumes, he told F&F. “We’re going to bring the economies of scale” necessary to make gaseous fuel vehicles more economical, Landi Renzo USA sales and marketing VP Matt Weiss said in Las Vegas last month. There the company unveiled a variable-PSI electronic regulator for CNG, and indicated that its first U.S. offering could be a fuel system for a cargo van. American interest in clean fuels, “par-
Italy’s Landi Renzo is showing a CNG-diesel dual-fuel Fiat Doblo at Stand C10.
ticularly natural gas,” is at an all-time high, said Landi Renzo CEO Claudio Carnevale. “As in other cases, our group decided to play a key role,” Carnevale said. “The time is now,” says Weiss. Landi Renzo’s other international subsidiaries are located in India, Poland, Holland, Brazil, China, Pakistan, Rumania, and Venezuela. In addition to Fiat’s many models, including the Doblo here, Landi Renzo’s list of OEM customers for NGVs and propane-LPG vehicle includes Chery (China), General Motors, Hyundai, Nissan, Peugeot-Citröen, Renault, Suzuki, ToyotaDaihatsu, and Volkswagen. And, since the last world show, NGV2008 in Rio de Janeiro, Landi Renzo acquired Italy’s Lovato, the world’s number three player, bringing a strong position in areas including the former Soviet Union.
C anada Em erges Canada, known for exports of NGV equipment, may emerge as a bigger buyer of NGVs as the federal government gets interested in vehicles as an outlet for domestic natural gas, and utilities and truckers commence deploying vehicles. Signs of life were seen as a high-level mid-March meeting was coordinated between officials of Natural Resources Canada and vehicle suppliers by the Ottawabased Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance. Toronto’s Enbridge Gas has deployed a pair of CNG Navistar International 4400s (above) and a 4300, and has ordered two Daimler-Freightliner M2 112 trucks. In Quebec, Claude Robert of 1,000-vehicle Transport Robert is talking up a $20 million project to deploy a reported 130 LNG Paccar-Kenworth trucks and build three fueling stations with Montreal’s Gaz Métro utility. Canadian exhibitors here include IMW (for compressors, Stand A20) and Xebec (for gas purification, Stand C9). Mike Gallagher of Vancouverbased Westport Innovations will discuss The Next 10 Years – Strategies and Tactics to Build the Industry to Scale at the Strategic Thinking Plenary session this morning. www.showtimesdaily.com
Creating a Revolution in Transport
NGV2010Roma in Italy
June 9 BR C Fue lMa k er
MTM/BRC comes to NGV2010Roma as part of a far bigger entity, as its parent Fuel Systems Solutions has purchased Canada’s FuelMaker after also acquiring Tomasetto Achille of Argentina. And, the Los Angeles-based Impco Technologies unit of FSS is again promoting, and assiduously certifying, gaseous fuel systems for vehicles in the U.S. The BRC FuelMaker name is now being applied across a range of compressors from Phill home fuelers for single vehicles to vehicle refueling appliances (VRAs) to fully accessorized, transit fleetcapable units. Production, including the small compressors formerly made in Canada, is being shifted to a new plant in Cherasco, in northwest Italy, with new production lines to be up and running January 2011, says sales director Mario Pirraglia. Another BRC goal? “Make Phill more
3 affordable and available to all who desire home refueling.” New parts suppliers are part of the equation, Pirraglia says. BRC FuelMaker has also beefed up service, with small compressors supported by Impco in Santa Ana (Los Angeles), California. GESI, California’s Gas Equipment Systems, Inc. has been named the
exclusive U.S. distributor of large BRC FuelMaker compressors. Tomasetto Achille is handling South America sales. BRC FuelMaker is at Stands A2 and E18. Parent FSS also owns Italy’s Zavoli (Stand E8). Pirraglia will detail the evolution of FuelMaker to BRC FuelMaker at the Fueling Infrastructure session Thursday.
The BRC FuelMaker name is now being applied across a full range of compressors. President Larry Ozier (left) of California’s Gas Equipment Systems, Inc. shakes on the deal with BRC FuelMaker GM Max Fissore to be sole U.S. distributor of large BRC machines.
Rolande LNG is here from Holland showing factory CNG Iveco Stralis truck that it’s converted to LNG operation using 270- and 538-liter (71 and 142 U.S. gallons) cryogenic fuel tanks from Chart-NexGen of the U.S. The truck is fueled with “LBG” – liquid biogas. According to a letter of intent, fuel is to be acquired from Gasrec of the UK, Rolande commercial director Peter Hendrickx told F&F here Tuesday. The truck is owned by Chr. Vermeer Transport of Dongen, The Netherlands, which Rolande says stepped up as the first “to collect experience with a truck running on LBG in the daily transport service.” The LBG vehicle can run more than 1,200 kilometers – 745 miles – on a single fill. “We managed to overcome the typical problem [range] when using CNG as transport fuel in trucks,” Rolande says.
C z ech Re pub li c F or ge s Ah ead
There were some 1,800 NGVs in the Czech Republic at the end of 2009, including 270 buses, and 23 public CNG fueling stations, up from nine public stations supporting just 250 NGVs in 2004, reports Pavel Novák, NGV manager with the Czech Gas Association. The biggest jump, 600 vehicles including 55 buses, took place from 2008 to 2009. “Over the past five years, the average annual growth in CNG consumption in the Czech Republic has been 25.1%,” Novak told F&F. He credits a 2005 government resolution which “helped to professionalize the approaches taken.” The Czech Gas Association is preparing the fourth edition of the Prospects for the Development and Use of CNG in Transport annual international conference, aka Czech NGV 2011, to be held in Prague February 9-10, 2011. Besides CzGA (Stand F31), Czech exhibitors here include Vítkovice Cylinders (B24), which is part of a 30-company industrial group, and Chart Ferox (E27), for LNG systems.
Ro la nde LNG – Bi o!
C AP f o r H AM V o l vo s
Following tests on a Mercedes Axor engine lasting a year, the UK’s Clean Air Power on Monday reported a £200,000 deal to supply its Genesis Edge brand dual-fuel systems for ten LNGfueled Volvo FM13 tractors operated by Spanish LNG distributor HAM. Savings CAP CEO John Pettitt could amount to made the rounds of £1,000 per month NGV2010Roma on Tuesday. per truck, CAP said.
June 9
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V ers us Ga s
Poland’s Versus Gas is at Stand F24 promoting a line of sequential gas injection hardware for natural gas and propane-LPG vehicles. The company began assembly of gas systems, using mostly Italian compo-
X per i on Al pha for A FV V ol vo s
nentry, in 1991, and by 2005 was bringing its own designs to market. Versus gained ISO9001 recognition in 2008. Products today range from EC110Rapproved engine control units to wiring harnesses and fuses. Versus, which is a member of IANGV, is promoting a new technical support service too.
Xperion Alpha is providing Type IV fuel cylinders for Volvo V70 cars converted to CNG on Volvo factory premises in Torslanda (Gothenburg) by Alternative Sean Ellen of Xperion Alpha (left) with Fuel Vehicles (www.afv.nu; Swedish Prins managing director Bart van Aerle and marketing chief John Wouters. language website). AFV’s technical project manager is Anders Johansson, former tech manager for bi-fuel models at Volvo Cars. Thomas Andersson is president and CEO. Engine systems for the bi-fuel natural gas-gasoline Volvo cars are provided by Prins Autogassytemen, of The Netherlands. Prins supplies its VSI-CNG vapor sequential injection kit, with a master-slave architecture making it compatible with the OEM car, including onboard diagnostics (OBD). AFV prices its bi-fuel V70s at 319,900 Swedish kronor – approximately 33,400 euros or $40,700 U.S. Kassel, Germany-based Xperion Xperion Alpha Type IVs in an AFV V70 Alpha is at Stand D26.
Stako Enters CNG
Longtime propane-LPG fuel tank supplier Stako, of Slupsk, Poland is at its customer BRC’s Stand A2 promoting a new line of lightweight CNG cylinders. Stako has 200bar/3,000-psi Type III and Type IV tanks, carbon fiber-wrapped, which it is offering to vehicle upfitters. BRC is an obvious target, as are current propane fuel container customers Landi Renzo (C10) and Tartarini (C18), says commercial director Arek Kubasik. “We make everything from scratch,” he says of the new CNG cylinders, including aluminum liners (from tubestock) for the Stako Type III and HDPE plastic liners for the Stako Type IV tanks. The lightweight fuel vessels are also aimed at bus manufacturers. Poland is the largest busbuilder in Europe, Kubasik says, producing some 4,500 vehicles last year. As interest in CNG grows, “we are in a good place with this product,” he told F&F.
Stako’s Arek Kubasik with new CNG tanks.
Fleets & Fuels NGVRoma2010 News is published by Fleets & Fuels © August Pacific Press. All rights reserved.
Rich Kolodziej (NGVAmerica), IANGV President Brett Jarman, IANGV Executive Director David Perry, NGVRoma2010 News (dperry@iangv.org)
Rich Piellisch, Editor Fleets & Fuels NGVRoma2010 News (Rome mobile +39-345-014-2953; piellisch@fleetsandfuels.com) Fleets & Fuels, 357 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA; +1-415-896-5988; mobile +1-415-305-9050 www.fleetsandfuels.com; twitter.com/fleetsandfuels: #ngv2010roma; www.showtimesdaily.com
International Association for Natural Vas Vehicles (Stand E21) PO Box 128 446 Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand
Creating a Revolution in Transport
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NGV2010Roma in Italy