Santo Domingo.- Monday’s ribbon cutting in the first natural gas station in Santo Domingo’s western sectors is the first of numerous openings of those facilities and marks the start of the massive use of that fuel by passenger as well as private vehicles.
An industry source revealed that the natural gas station inaugurated by the company Soluciones en Gas Natural company (SGN) in the Isla gas station on Independence avenue is only the first of “quite a few” of those facilities ready to start operations and meet the ever increasing demand for the cheaper fuel, already being used by automobiles ranging from taxis to buses.
“The Environment Ministry appears to have been given an earful and now issues the permits for natural gas stations with less red tape,” the source said, referring to alleged backlogs in that agency.
Heading the inaugural, the first Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernandez hailed SGN’S contributions with its fourth natural gas station installed in the country, while the company’s vice president, Pedro Juan Lama, revealed that by the end of the month five other stations will be opened; in Charles de Gaulle avenue, Villa Mella, Las Americas, Santiago and Bonao, which were symbolically inaugurated yesterday.
Lama said converting 100,000 vehicles to natural gas in the next three years should be a government priority, saving the country what he estimates at RD$1.5 billion monthly.
He said preliminary studies found that a public transport car saves an average of 12,000 pesos monthly using natural gas.
The station has 8 pumps and can fill that same number of vehicles in three minutes.
Written by: Atabey, 17 Jan 2012 6:23 AM
From: United States, NYC
If it'll save money and make DR a more efficient energy consumer then this is a positive development.
Written by: BASTA, 17 Jan 2012 6:29 AM
From: Dominican Republic, =Ghetto/Legalize Drugs/Free abortions for all
Pig,pig,pig.Oh my God it's the Pork Chop.
From: Dominican Republic, calle A.Portes
first natural gas station in the west ..wow ..that really has taken a long time when they are all over the eastern part
From: Dominican Republic, Puerto Plata
What about the North?
I wish I were given an opportunty to invest in this penny-stock commodity.
Does anybody believe it'll stay at RD$22.00?
The Lama family are merchants, not philantropists.
From: United States
Written by: Ricardolito, 17 Jan 2012 6:39 AM
From: Dominican Republic, vieja Santo Domingo
first natural gas station in the west ..wow ..that really has taken a long time when they are all over the eastern part
all over the eastern part? natural gas? really? who is buying it, and for what use?
From: Dominican Republic
first Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernandez or should we start calling her Mrs Scissorhands now??
Does anybody believe it'll stay at RD$22.00?......... keep it low until more people are using it then do the same as the gas..put it through the roof....
We could only hope that it will stay this price into the future... but with most things demand drives the price... more demand, price goes up...
It is a good thing but why so long to get it there????
From: United States
says stillhere
We could only hope that it will stay this price into the future... but with most things demand drives the price... more demand, price goes up...
we already went through this scenario with propane. once it was cost effective, but, with the rising demand occasioned by vehicular requirements, that dynamic has changed. the new flavor of the month is natural gas, which will have the same end result.
Written by: JDJones, 17 Jan 2012 8:20 AM
From: Dominican Republic
I'd say that Pedro Juan Lama is going to be pulling down some serious change really soon with this monopoly. (until more stations get built/converted)
Written by: Eriliza, 17 Jan 2012 10:14 AM
From: United States, Boston, MA
Great news! Cheers!
Written by: riosm, 17 Jan 2012 10:19 AM
From: United States
Once everybody jumps on the bandwagon on the 'new in thing'......how long before the price sky rockets ?
From: Dominican Republic, NEVER FORGOTTEN, NEVER FORSAKEN!
Don't hate, she's hot.
From: Dominican Republic, NEVER FORGOTTEN, NEVER FORSAKEN!
Basta, are you a fag?
Written by: RonEvane 
, 17 Jan 2012 2:32 PM
From: United States, Gaithersburg, Maryland
{"Once everybody jumps on the bandwagon on the 'new in thing'......how long before the price sky rockets ? "}
Here in Gaithersburg, a northern suburb of Washington, DC, all metropolitan buses (MTA), have been running on natural gas for years. All new buses that come into service, run on that fuel; which shows it's commitment to go in that direction.
As it is now, gas is plentiful in the US, good reason for other public and private companies to convert to this fuel. So it's doubtful it will go up drastically in price for the next few years. This is according to the National Geological Society and the Energy Dept.
I have been saying for a while that natural gas use, need not be imported in it's entirety. It can easily, and I mean easily, gotten from rotting garbage in "vertederos" and also extracted from human and animal poop using a simple, low-tech, "methane digester".
Anyone with a backyard can build and extract enough for cooking and powering a car.
Written by: Juango, 17 Jan 2012 3:02 PM
From: United States, far S. Florida (formerly Santo Domingo)
Massive use of CNG? There will need to be multiple CNG stations in every city & town in the DR before that happens. Global NG prices are at an all time low. Unfortunately there is only a single supplier in the DR, that is AES in Pt Caucedo. Until there are two suppliers (that will allow some competition), I see this as a limited win/win for the DR.
This is a very good step in the right direction, although very slow in happening. There should have have been at least 30-50 station at this stage, given they have talked about this happening for at least 3 years. I just hope all safety standards are carefully adhered to.
From: Dominican Republic
Ron.... it is easy to make bio gas but it is an expensive and technical thing to clean and compress for the use in cars, you need a very big digester and a lot of pigs to make it efficient to run a car on... how ever you can use it to run a stove and gas lights..... about three pig will make enough to light and cook for a normal house, or run a small generator for about 2 hours.. something small rural communities should be looking into ....
eg the pig farm in the news a while ago that converted to use it's pig poo to power their farm....
I would like to see the amounts of tax on fuels compared to LPG... ???
With only one company being the suppler, there is always a danger of price jumps.
From: United States
Written by: stillhere, 18 Jan 2012 6:17 AM
From: Dominican Republic
Ron.... it is easy to make bio gas but it is an expensive and technical thing to clean and compress for the use in cars, you need a very big digester and a lot of pigs to make it efficient to run a car on.
in other words, it is not economically feasible, on a commercial scale. maybe a few dozen guys can do it for their homes, but it is a non starter on a big scale.
From: Dominican Republic
Dread... yes and no.... it is a very feasible for the rural communities or farms to supplement or replace their power needs with bio/ methane gas, converting waste water treatment plants or building bio digesters for cooking and power generation... But no ... making it for car is not efficient.. Yet..
Some waste water treatment plants in the US and Europe are already producing power and converting it's gas to be used in cars... and the process is being refined and made more cost effective.
Syn-gas is an options for power generators, small and large scale with a lot of organic waste burnt or put in land fill every year...
Written by: RoyStone, 18 Jan 2012 8:41 AM
From: Australia
Melbourne's South Eastern Purification Plant digests the output from about a million citizens, yet only produces enough to run the plant. However the purified water and fertilizer produced for irrigation and agriculture make it worthwhile.
However, burning any fuel still produces CO2. If you are worried about AGM, then running electric cars using hydrogen fuel-cells, with hydrogen produced from nuclear power (using Australian uranium of course) is the best option for the planet.
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I wish I were given an opportunty to invest in this penny-stock commodity.
Does anybody believe it'll stay at RD$22.00?
The Lama family are merchants, not philantropists.
From: Dominican Republic, vieja Santo Domingo
first natural gas station in the west ..wow ..that really has taken a long time when they are all over the eastern part
all over the eastern part? natural gas? really? who is buying it, and for what use?
Does anybody believe it'll stay at RD$22.00?......... keep it low until more people are using it then do the same as the gas..put it through the roof....
We could only hope that it will stay this price into the future... but with most things demand drives the price... more demand, price goes up...
It is a good thing but why so long to get it there????
We could only hope that it will stay this price into the future... but with most things demand drives the price... more demand, price goes up...
we already went through this scenario with propane. once it was cost effective, but, with the rising demand occasioned by vehicular requirements, that dynamic has changed. the new flavor of the month is natural gas, which will have the same end result.
{"Once everybody jumps on the bandwagon on the 'new in thing'......how long before the price sky rockets ? "}
Here in Gaithersburg, a northern suburb of Washington, DC, all metropolitan buses (MTA), have been running on natural gas for years. All new buses that come into service, run on that fuel; which shows it's commitment to go in that direction.
As it is now, gas is plentiful in the US, good reason for other public and private companies to convert to this fuel. So it's doubtful it will go up drastically in price for the next few years. This is according to the National Geological Society and the Energy Dept.
I have been saying for a while that natural gas use, need not be imported in it's entirety. It can easily, and I mean easily, gotten from rotting garbage in "vertederos" and also extracted from human and animal poop using a simple, low-tech, "methane digester".
Anyone with a backyard can build and extract enough for cooking and powering a car.
This is a very good step in the right direction, although very slow in happening. There should have have been at least 30-50 station at this stage, given they have talked about this happening for at least 3 years. I just hope all safety standards are carefully adhered to.
eg the pig farm in the news a while ago that converted to use it's pig poo to power their farm....
I would like to see the amounts of tax on fuels compared to LPG... ???
With only one company being the suppler, there is always a danger of price jumps.
From: Dominican Republic
Ron.... it is easy to make bio gas but it is an expensive and technical thing to clean and compress for the use in cars, you need a very big digester and a lot of pigs to make it efficient to run a car on.
in other words, it is not economically feasible, on a commercial scale. maybe a few dozen guys can do it for their homes, but it is a non starter on a big scale.
Some waste water treatment plants in the US and Europe are already producing power and converting it's gas to be used in cars... and the process is being refined and made more cost effective.
Syn-gas is an options for power generators, small and large scale with a lot of organic waste burnt or put in land fill every year...
However, burning any fuel still produces CO2. If you are worried about AGM, then running electric cars using hydrogen fuel-cells, with hydrogen produced from nuclear power (using Australian uranium of course) is the best option for the planet.