Worried by the rising cost of transportation in the country, which gulps about 40 percent of workers salary,  Powergas Nigeria and ETEFA have unveiled plans to bring succor to members of the motoring public.

Addressing a joint media briefing in Lagos at the weekend, on its ‘‘Strategic Alliance for Flare Gas Recovery in Nigeria’’ with focus on efficient and reliable transport solutions, Chief Executive Director, ETEFA, Mr.Johann Rieger, and General Manager, Commercial Powergas Global Investments Limited, Mr. Sumeet Singh, said the initiative would operate under the Clean and Environmentally Sustainable Transportation (CEST).

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According to him, CEST is a strategic alliance between Powergas- a pionner in virtual gas pipeline supply and Austrian ETEFA.The CEST program is sponsored and supported by the Austrain Development Agency (ADA) and the Commercial Section of the Austrian Embassy in Nigeria. And to transform the concept into service delivery, he disclosed that the CEST program has initiated a pilot project for refurbishment and conversion of city buses and trucks in Lagos and the Niger Delta from diesel to gas over a period of 18 months.

On the partnership, Rieger explained that Powergas will provide all the necessary infrastructure for Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) supply while ETEFA will supply highly efficient gas engines and associated technology.

In the short to medium term,he hinted that ETEFA intends to locally manufacture gas-fired buses, trucks and engines in Nigeria with its local partners.  Rieger emphasised the need for natural gas compared to diesel as it is the most environmentally friendly energy sources, adding that, he quality of the imported diesel (according to United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)) hardly fulfills EURO 1 emission standards because of its high Sulphur content.