First compressed natural gas bus for public transport in Argentina

     March 18, 2013. The bus was enabled and since the first days of March provides public passenger service on the line 322, between the towns of Merlo and Marcos Paz, in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ezequiel Facetti, head of Business of Suncell Bahiense SA, explained that this is the first time an Ecobus powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), manufactured entirely in Argentina by Tecnología Avanzada en Transporte S.A. (TATSA), is approved to be tested on experimental public transport for passengers. The project to use CNG for passenger motor transport was introduced in the 80s, during the administration of former President Raul Alfonsin, but then but the resistance of some businessmen obstructed this development.

    According to the representative of Suncell Bahiense SA, a company specializing in the development of transportation projects using technologies friendly to the environment, these units greatly reduce pollutant emissions and noise that result from the use of diesel engines. He stressed that these vehicles generate significant savings in operation, using a much cheaper fuel than diesel.

    As an example, Facetti said the Energy Department of the United States found that CNG buses emit virtually no particles or black soot from the exhaust pipe. Specifically, emit 97% less particulate matter than diesel-fueled vehicles, and 58% less nitrogen oxides (NOx).
 

(Quoted from http://www.gnvmagazine.com/eng/noticia-first_compressed_natural_gas_bus_for_public_transport_in_argentina-3000)