Vehicles driven by Russia's abundant supplies of natural gas put hybrids to shame with their mileage per gallon. Gazprom is betting that it can expand the market for such vehicles beyond the country's lower-income and rural drivers.
"Gazprom, the state-owned energy monopoly better known for heating houses and powering factories in Europe, is making a bet that
cars are an alluring market for future growth, at home in and in other European countries that have bought its gas," reports Andrew E. Kramer. "All the ingredients are in place for adoption of natural gas vehicles in Russia, the world’s second-largest gas producer after the United States, with economic and environmental payoffs."With higher efficiencies, lower costs, and better emissions compared to gasoline, the obstacles to wider adoption seem to be retail infrastructure and safety concerns.
"Russians still recall, with shudders, the fear of bursting tanks on substandard methane-fueled cars in the late 1980s," notes Kramer. “The first issue is that people are afraid their car will blow up,” remarked Yevgeny N. Pronin, director of the National Gas Motor Association of Russia, and an executive at Gazprom.
FULL STORY: Russia Skips Hybrids in Push for Natural Gas Cars

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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