Turns out autogas is kind of a big deal…in Japan. With the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami that rocked the east Asian island mere days ago, traditional fuel supplies are already running out. As you can imagine, there’s not been much encouraging news for this country known for its calm demeanor and resilience even in the face of such tragedy. However, some of the country’s taxi drivers are still chugging along, thanks to propane autogas.
Japan has nearly 300,000 autogas-fueled vehicles, and in some cities, the taxis are still able to cart their passengers around. Our fellow autogas experts over at propane.pro have written an illustrative article on the topic.
Autogas has been around a while in plenty of other countries, too. Turkey, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Mexico all have significant numbers of vehicles that are fueled by autogas. Worldwide, that number has surpassed 15 million vehicles, according to Autogas for America.
In the face of pollution that bogged down the city of Vienna, Austria mere decades ago, that country’s capital city decided to fuel its buses with autogas – and it has made all the difference, according to the World LP Gas Association. “With more than 500 buses from the Viennese public transport fleet running on LPG, our energy makes a significant contribution to this result,” boasts the organization.
The rest of Europe is no couch potato when it comes to autogas, either. Jem Aldridge of the UK autogas supplier Autogas Limited says that “advances are being made in electric vehicles, but these remain limiting in terms of range and their ability to travel long distances. For high mileage users, LPG is the most viable fuel compared to petrol or diesel.” And, it might surprise you that Europe has some 27,000 public autogas refueling stations around the region, adding to the clean-burning fuel’s viability as an alternative to gasoline.
So, you might be wondering, how many autogas vehicles are there in the U.S.? Only about 200,000, according to Alliance AutoGas President Stuart Weidie.
Oh, well. They say the latest trends always start in Japan anyways. Maybe policymakers and the alternative-fuel-conscious public in the U.S. will finally catch on to autogas someday.
