Energy, Lithuania, Transport

"We hope that the first filling station of this type will contribute to the reduction of air pollution in the capital and enable to convert the majority of buses in Vilnius into cleaner ones, simultaneously raising interest of private drivers in eco-friendly cheap fuel," said ELTA Laimonas Dapsys, head of Autoideja, which is developing a network of such filling stations.

According to Dapsys, the first filling station is merely the first step in the creation of a chain of natural gas filling stations in Lithuania. According to Dapsys, up till now drivers could not use cars running on CNG, because there were no filling stations and nobody resolved to erect such stations until there was demand.

The new filling station has been installed in Verkiu street, on the territory of the busses park, because primarily it will provide fuel for Vilnius public busses. The representatives of the company Autoideja claim that they serve one third of Vilnius busses and have brought 30 busses running on CNG from Sweden and Germany.

Their number is expected to rise to 70 by the end of the year and to reach 100 vehicles by the middle of 2009.