The brand, designed by the branding consultant and partner of the European consortium Soulman Insightful Thinking, refers to the characteristics of natural gas as an ecological and economic fuel, a present technology to promote sustainable mobility.
Madrid, 11 February 2019. The ECO-GATE European Consortium, co-financed by the European Union and led by NEDGIA, the gas distributor of the Naturgy group, presented the ECO-G brand today, which has been designed as a unique trademark to rename vehicular natural gas.
In a scenario in which oil-derived fuels are still the majority, the new brand revolves around the idea of “smart ecology”: natural gas is the most suitable ecological, economic and current alternative for promoting sustainable mobility, both terrestrial as maritime.
With a modern design and a lot of personality, the ECO-G brand has a unique typeface that allows it to adapt to the organic shapes of a leaf. The design has been created by the branding consultant Soulman Insightful Thinking, which is also a partner of the European consortium.
With this new brand, ECO-GATE aims to unify the different names used for natural gas technology as a fuel source for land and maritime mobility. In this way, ECO-G will function as a denomination seal and the brand can be used by manufacturers of land or maritime vehicles, users of vehicles and technology companies, marketers and distributors in the field of natural gas mobility.
Present and future mobility energy
ECO-G is a clean technology that reduces to almost zero the polluting emissions that affect air quality in cities: up to 100% of NO2 emissions and more than 95% of solid particles. In addition, it reduces sound emission and vibrations by 50% compared to diesel engines. And if we talk about renewable gas, CO2 emissions are neutral: 100% reduction.
Of all the alternative fuels, ECO-G is the only one that has fully developed and operational solutions for all mobility needs, from passenger cars for urban commutes to long-distance (international) transport, without losing performance levels or autonomy.
In addition to environmental benefits, sustainable mobility with natural gas leads to significant fuel savings (50% versus gasoline and 25% against diesel). For example, a light vehicle can travel 275 kilometres on 20 euros of gasoline, 375 Km on diesel and 555 Km on ECO-G.
Its use has been widespread for decades, all over the world, especially in Latin America and Europe. In Italy, for example, there are more than 1 million vehicles and more than 1,100 gas stations, or Germany, with nearly 100,000 vehicles and almost 1,000 gas stations. In Spain, the figures do not stop growing, which demonstrates the great acceptance of mobility with natural gas; in 2018, 5,745 new natural gas vehicles were registered (146% with respect to 2017) and the car fleet exceeded 14,200 units (68% more than the previous year).
About the ECO-GATE Consortium
The European ECO-GATE Consortium (European COrridors for natural GAs Transport Efficiency) is one of the most ambitious global plans for mobility with conventional and renewable natural gas. Co-funded by Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union, it is managed and coordinated by NEDGIA, as the consortium leader, and is composed of natural gas operators, technology and service providers, end users and experts in market knowledge and its promotion in Spain, Portugal, France, and Germany.
ECO-GATE uses new technologies and applies innovative solutions to enable the rapid and massive deployment of this alternative fuel, thanks to a significant reduction in the unit cost and a better understanding and greater knowledge of the needs of customers.
The project includes the construction of 21 natural gas refuelling stations along the Atlantic and Mediterranean Corridors in each of the 4 countries participating in the project: Germany (1), France (1), Portugal (6) and Spain (13). To this end, the funding provided to ECO-GATE will be shared among the four countries and will allow the development of gas stations in Barcelona, Cordoba, Cartagena, Irun, La Junquera, Madrid, Salamanca, Tordesillas, Aveiro, Lisbon, Setúbal, Tours and Heddesheim, among other cities. In addition, it also contemplates the realisation of two pilot projects for the supply of renewable gas and hydrogen.
The participating natural gas operators are: NEDGIA Madrid, Enagás Transporte, Dourogás Natural, Endesa Energía, Galp Energía, Repsol, Naturgy Europe, Inversora Melofe, and Molgas Energía. The technologies and services providers include: Cetil Dispensing Technology, Soltel It Solutions, Cidaut Foundation, Evarm Innovation, Universidade de Tras-Os-Montes e Alto Douro, Imdea Energía Foundation, Audigna, Ghenova Ingeniería, and Madisa. While the final users are: Correos and San José López. And finally, the experts in market knowledge and promotion include: Gasnam, Port Authority of Gijón, Port Authority of Huelva, University of Santiago de Compostela, and Soulman Insightful Thinking.
The financing of the European Union responds to the fact that the project works in line with the European Directive 94/2014 promoting the development of the natural gas market for mobility purposes (ECO-G), as an alternative fuel.
In addition, it has the support and interest of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and the Direção Geral de Energía e Geologia de Portugal, as well as the Spanish Gas Association (SEDIGAS) and the European Natural & Bio Gas Vehicle Association (NGVA Europe).