February 21, 2012. The air quality in the urban area of Ningbo; China, will be greatly improved in the near future as some of the buses, taxies, port container trucks are expected to use natural gas rather than petrol as fuel as required by the city government in the Gas for Petrol Scheme of Buses, Taxis, Container Trucks in the Urban Area which was released a couple of days ago.

   According to the Scheme, by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan there will be 2.500 natural gas buses in the urban area, to account for half of the total, with around 10 supporting service stations. There will be 3.500 dual-fueled taxis (petrol and natural gas), accounting for 70% of the total, with 15 to 20 service stations providing two fuels. There will be 500 container trucks using natural gas, accounting for 40% of the total in Ningbo Port, with 3 to 4 service stations providing liquefied natural gas (LNG).

   Currently, there are over one million motor vehicles in the city. Emissions by vehicles are responsible for 30% of the air pollutants in Ningbo among which the most frequently used buses and taxis account for nearly a half.

   The scheme will be carried out in six districts in Ningbo step by step. The rest places can make some adjustments with a reference to their own situations.

   In response to those changes in vehicle fuels, the construction of LNG, CNG or L-CNG stations will be added to laying-out of bus stations and ports. Presently, the construction of city natural gas station has already been started.