The sustainable development concept assumes that development of civilization, technology, and economy must proceed in a manner which makes it possible to reconcile the requirements of environmental protection with sensible use of natural resources.
The current environmental law imposes the environmental protection obligations on all business entities while also providing for a system of incentives to use environmentally friendly technologies and resources.
Gas-fired units are commonly used by the energy sector, industry and municipal utilities. The gas combustion processes take place at a relatively low level of emissions in comparison with other fuels.
The use of natural gas as an input material and fuel in process furnace ensures higher energy efficiency of a range of industry processes. Thanks to the application of modern technologies in newly opened or upgraded production facilities, companies are able to increase their production output while reducing the emission levels.
The advantages of natural gas also make it a suitable fuel for vehicles. The use of compressed natural gas (CNG) is justified both from economic and environmental points of view. Currently, there are abut 4.3 million of CNG-fuelled vehicles in the world and the segment is growing dynamically.
In certain countries various mechanisms were established to support the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel. At the end of 2006 in Poland, there were around 1000 vehicles fuelled with CNG and 23 PGNiG-owned stations offered CNG for vehicles. The current investment plan includes a budget for construction of new stations.