Kano State Government has dispatched a team of engineers to understudy automobile conversion from diesel and petrol engines to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in Ogun State.
According to officials from the Kano Ministry of Transportation, the team was being led by Director of Transport, Engr. Mahmud Musa Sarki to Abeokuta, on a mission to understudy the conversion process.
Ogun State government had pioneered the conversion to eliminate the effect of the recent removal of subsidy on fuel which will reduce the cost of transportation in the state.
Engr. Sarki while inspecting some of the CNG-powered buses in Abeokuta said Ogun is blazing the trail in the conversion to CNG and Kano State has a lot to learn as it plans to follow a similar path.
He said Kano State has a lot to benefit from the visit to the Gateway State as his team has had first-hand experience and interaction with the experts handling the conversion process.
“I am thrilled by what we are seeing here, particularly the likely effect on the reduction of transport fare which the conversion would have on commuters when the vehicles begin to ply the roads.
“We are pleased to have this first hand experience and we will go back to our state to replicate same with a view to making living more abundant for an average Kano resident,” he said.
Addressing the team earlier, Special Adviser to the Ogun State Governor on Revenue Assurance, Mr. Oluseyi Ogunseye said it is economically better to run engines on gas rather than on diesel and petrol as it saves almost 40 percent of funds that could be.
He further explained that the CNG provides a greener environment and reduces environmental pollution.
According to him, CNG should be encouraged and supported because it is lighter than air and in case of a leak disperses upward rather than pooling on the ground which would reduce the risk of fire outbreak.
Director, Vehicle Inspection Services in the Ministry of Transportation, Engr. Olugbenga Ademehin said that it is composed mainly of methane which is a primary component of natural gas.
Also speaking, Millind Dekhole of NGTSL SPIRO, handlers of the conversion process, highlighted its advantages to include eco- friendliness, comparative reduced fuel consumption, non-toxicity which elongates the life span of engines among others.
He said the partnership with the Ogun State Government would facilitate the conversion of large number of vehicles to use CNG fuel, provide CNG kits and provide workspace infrastructure in the State.
