Performance and Emissions Comparison between Biomethane and Natural Gas Fuel in Passenger Vehicles: results of the third testing campaign

Abstract

This paper shows the results of the third (and last) campaign in the BiomethER project (EU-LIFE). It aimed to achieve two newest bio-methane production plants in the Emilia Romagna region (Italy). This manuscript reports the measurements of emission and performance for the vehicles tested, as widely described in the previous papers. So, three passenger cars are fuelled with conventional natural gas and bio-methane from a BiomethER plant. The emissions and performances on the chassis dynamometer for each vehicle have been measured. Inspecting the combustion chambers of the engines allows for evaluating their wear condition. This campaign confirms the results achieved in the previous two campaigns; there are no appreciable deviations for fuel consumption, greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions between the two gases. The inspection reveals that biomethane reduces the carbon deposits in combustion chambers compared to natural gas in national infrastructure.