WLPGA Asia Autogas Summit in Hong Kong a great success

 

The WLPGA held its second Asia Autogas Summit in Hong Kong on Monday 3rd December 2012 at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Kowloon. Over 100 people attended the event, which was sponsored by SIHI, Petredec Investments, Batchen and Eco-Hong Kong China Gas. The day was moderated by Nick Black from Argus Media and Editor of LPG World.

 

 

Nick Black from Argus Media and Editor of LPG World

Speakers from the Hong Kong government included Dr Vanessa Au, the senior environmental protection officer of the Environmental Protection Department, who described the history of the government’s very successful decision to switch its entire taxi fleet from diesel to Autogas ten years ago. Joseph Chan, from the governments’ Electrical and Mechanical Services Department described his department’s role in regulating Autogas safety in Hong Kong.

Other speakers included Ken Lunn, a Hong Kong consultant responsible for many of the Autogas station designs in Hong Kong, and M.L. Lam, the vice president of Eco Environmental Investments Ltd – operator of one of the largest Autogas stations in Hong Kong.

After showcasing the Hong Kong story, delegates then heard from Eric Johnson, Managing Director of Atlantic Consulting in Switzerland, who described the implications and opportunities for Autogas in Asia and elsewhere in the world following the World Health Organisations’ announcement in June 2012 that diesel emissions were confirmed as a group one carcinogen to humans.

The WLPGA Asia Autogas Summit was held during the same week as the Better Air Quality Conference organized by the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) in Manila. Sophie Punte, the Executive Director of CAI-Asia, spoke at the Summit about her programme and how Autogas can play a role in mitigating street air pollution across the continent.

Sophie Punte, the Executive Director of CAI-Asia

James Batchen then described the range of Autogas dispensing equipment that his company, Batchen, offers, before challenging the delegates to create a more compelling case for the Autogas proposition.

Mr Kang from the Korean LPG Association described the history of Autogas in South Korea, while Cielo Fregil from Global Ambient Hi-Technology Systems Inc. in the Philippines reported on the exciting initiative of converting the highly polluting diesel engine Jeepneys to Autogas in Manila.

Saidul Islam from Petredec gave the delegates an interesting description of the development of Autogas in Bangladesh and how opportunities for growth in the market are now being created by the shortage of natural gas in the country, which is leading to the closure of the CNG filling station network and pushing owners of CNG-powered vehicles to now switch to Autogas.

Joel Pedessac, the Chairman of the WLPGA GAIN network and head of the French LPG Association (CFBP) presented the delegates with a summary of the Autogas position in Europe.

Suyash Gupta from the Indian Autogas Alliance joined the speakers for a round table when many questions were answered about various topics discussed during the day.

WLPGA Director, David Tyler, closed the Summit thanking the sponsors, speakers and delegates for attending this highly successful event.

David Tyler, WLPGA Director

 
Copies of the presentations and some photographs taken during the day can be accessed from the following link:

http://www.worldlpgas.com/calendar/69/93/WLPGA-Asia-Autogas-Summit-2012—quot-Autogas-An-Exceptional-Opportunity-for-Asia-quot.  

Please feel free to download the presentations and pass the link on to colleagues who may be interested.

The following day, the WLPGA arranged a tour of the Sinopec Autogas filling station in Kung Tong, Kowloon. The station is one of the largest dedicated Autogas filling stations in the world with 12 dispensers and 24 nozzles delivering over 140 000 litres of Autogas per day around the clock. Nearly 30 delegates took advantage of this tour, which was provided as part of the registration for the Autogas Summit. James Batchen personally described the operation of the Autogas dispensing equipment, which his company had provided.

For more information about Autogas events please contact David Tyler at: dtyler@worldlpgas.com