The European Commission will contribute €6.5m to the €25m roll-out of a network of compressed gas filling stations, the utility and university have announced. Fourteen stations are planned by 2020, with further plans to develop a nationwide causeway of 70 delivery points.

The stations will be connected to the national grid and deliver natural gas at first, but Gas Networks Ireland is also beginning to build injection points this year to collect renewable gas from anaerobic digesters processing farm and food waste.

Gas instead of diesel

While electric cars are widely seen as the way forward for light transportation, gas units can replace diesel engines used in lorries, tractors and buses. Producing this gas from renewable sources is one of the avenues to meet renewable energy and climate targets.

“Compressed natural gas, and the soon-to-be-introduced renewable gas, will play a major role in making transport in Ireland cleaner,” said head of commercial at Gas Networks Ireland Denis O’Sullivan.

NUI Galway will conduct research on the project and share its results with other gas operators around Europe.

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