Sustainable mobility: Snam meets with methane companies to develop the sector

Snam held a morning workshop aimed at exchanging ideas to further the use of methane in sustainable mobility, both in Italy and beyond. The event was organized in partnership with Snam4Mobility, Snam's wholly-owned subsidiary that is working to increase the number of CNG (compressed natural gas) and LNG (liquefied natural gas) filling stations in Italy.

The event was attended by representatives of Audi, SEAT, CNH Industrial, FPT, Landi Renzo and Ecomotive Solutions.

The meeting, which was also attended by the CEO of Snam, Marco Alverà, sought to demonstrate Italy's leadership with regards to methane, highlighting various examples such as the fleet of around 1 million methane-powered vehicles currently in operation (+2% registrations in 2018) and the 1,300 methane distributors in the country, up 6% per year from 2011, as well as showcasing the first initiatives on biomethane, a zero-CO2 renewable gas, whose supply began with a service station built by Snam in Tuscany. The event also highlighted that the development of methane is in no way in contradiction with electricity, given that the combined market share of the two alternative feeds is still very low. 'In the automotive sector - Alverà said - estimates forecast electricity to comprise an ambitious 20-25% share by 2030. There will therefore also be space for gas, which costs half of petrol and diesel and has no dust emissions. But gas' potential goes beyond cars. For example, many ships of the future will be methane powered, and Snam recently signed an agreement with FS Italiane and Hitachi for the development of methane trains to replace old diesel engines'. Snam has already built six stations and has about 50 under construction. It has agreements with important operators in the sector such as Eni, Api and Tamoil.

One of the key challenges that remains is the availability of new models in the transport sector, given that there are still only a few car manufacturers that are firmly focused on methane. The fuel is not only low in cost compared to petrol and diesel, but also guarantees environmental sustainability and good driving performance.

Sustainable mobility is one of the pillars - together with renewable gas, energy efficiency and innovation - of the Snamtec project, Snam's initiative aimed at planning for the energy company of the future, in which it will invest a total of 850 million euro by 2022.