Estonian green gas sales rocketed right after start
At the end of April, Estonian vehicle owners were given an opportunity to start using domestically produced green gas (biomethane) in addition to the natural gas option available before. Eesti Gaas’s recent statistics show that the sales of the novel domestic automotive fuel at gas stations all over Estonia reached a total of almost 261,000 m3 in May, of which more than a third was used by vehicles in pure form as opposed to mixtures.
Pärnu, Savi 39 gas station
Raul Kotov, a member of the board of Eesti Gaas, said the sales of environmentally friendly automotive fuels are stimulated by the consumers’ awareness about lower prices and lower pollution. “The sales of green gas in May exceeded our initial estimates, which shows that companies and individuals alike are more and more deliberate in choosing the gas produced for transport, and it is its low environmental impact that matters,” Kotov said.
In total, Eesti Gaas sold 261,000 m3 of green gas through its gas station in May this year, of which 92,100 m3 were purchased in pure form.
“As far as the distribution of green gas by counties is concerned, Pärnu comes first, followed by Tallinn, and the consumption of green gas is apparently influenced by city transport changing to green gas. Most of buses in Pärnu switched to green gas in May, which boosted individual consumption,” the member of the board of Eesti Gaas explained.
The largest amount of green gas, which is 57,000 m3, was purchased in Pärnu, followed by almost 27,000 m3 at Tallinn gas stations and 7000 m3 in Tartu.
The gas stations operated by Eesti Gaas also sell mixed fuel consisting of natural gas and green gas, and in May the sales of its components within the product amounted to 169,000 m3 of green gas and around 700,000 m3 of natural gas.
Green gas is produced from biodegradable waste, waste water and sludge, agricultural waste and biomass of various origins. The gas stations operated by Eesti Gaas are the only ones that currently sell green gas. As the composition and quality of green gas are equivalent to natural gas, either can be used as vehicle fuel or both gases can be combined to form a mixed product.
Eesti Gaas supplies customers with natural gas through pipelines, as CNG and LNG. In addition, the company sells electricity to residential and commercial clients and specializes in the development of various energy production solutions. Eesti Gaas has 48,000 clients and 220 employees.
