The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has allayed the fears of Nigerians about the safety of vehicles converted to run on compressed natural gas (CNG), an energy source found to be far cheaper than petrol or diesel.
The Federal Government’s agency has converted some of its official cars to run on the CNG, just as it bought fully built CNG vehicles to add to its fleet.
Director General of the NADDC, Oluwemimo Osanipin, disclosed this in Lagos at a training workshop organised by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association under the theme ‘CNG/LPG/EV initiative: Challenges, Sustainability, Opportunities, Alternatives to Fossil Fuels in Nigeria’.
He spoke against a recent explosion of a CNG-powered vehicle at a NIPCO filling station in Benin, Edo State, which left three people severely injured. The explosion was traced to a cylinder fabricated by a welder without proper approval.
The NADDC DG, who was represented at the event by an Assistant Director in the agency, Ikechukwu Okoha, said “To further demonstrate the safety of gas-powered vehicles, Council has converted some of its vehicles to use CNG.
“Some locally assembled gas-powered vehicles have also been procured by the Council.
“Council is engaging world-class OEMs to ensure that we get the best conversion solutions introduced into the country.”
According to him, the agency has a compelling role in the implementation of the CNG penetration programme.
He noted that the emergence of the CNG as an alternative to petrol was aimed at addressing energy-security and environmental concerns occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal and global warming issue respectively.
“The use of CNG and electric vehicles is one of the sure ways of reducing the emissions from petrol and diesel,” he added.
The DG said, “In collaboration with experts in conversion technology, Council (has) developed the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for conversion, calibration and maintenance of autogas-powered vehicles (CNG/LPG/LNG).
“The NOS has been validated by industry practitioners and approved by the regulatory authority, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
“The NOS would be used to train auto technicians on the conversion, repair and maintenance of gas-powered vehicles.”
He also spoke about the training of local manpower and local manufacturing of conversion kits as well as creating a CNG conversion portal for the registration, accreditation and licensing of CNG conversion workshops across Nigeria among other tasks being championed by the agency.
He said the NADDC recently carried out a stakeholders’ forum on accreditation of CNG conversion workshops in Nigeria; coordinated a national conference on harnessing youth potential and career prospects within the Nigerian Automotive Sector.
“We coordinated the training on conversion of petrol vehicles to compressed natural gas (CNG) powered vehicles conducted by Lanre Shittu Motors in collaboration with NADDC.
“Forty-five technicians drawn from across the LGAs in Ekiti State participated in the training and they were empowered with modern tools/equipment at the end of the programme.”
He also disclosed that the agency coordinated the processes of accrediting and licensing CNG conversion workshops across the country and 30 workshops licensed for CNG conversion.
“To ensure skills development and international best practices in the automotive sector of the country, the Council conceived the establishment of Automotive Training Centres (ATCs) across the six geo-political zones aimed at redefining the nation’s auto industry, job provision and improvement in skills among technicians.
“This will in turn ensure prompt and efficient repair and maintenance of vehicles, while ensuring the safety of the mechanics, the vehicles and environment.
“A total of twenty-one (centres) are being built by the Council. Many of the projects have been completed and are currently being equipped with state-of- the-art equipment by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). The ATCs will also serve as CNG conversion centres when operational.”
