A BOOM in the automotive gas market has been predicted following Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's decision to cut duty on liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas. The Energy Saving Trust, which offers the Powershift grants of up to 75% off the conversion cost of a gas vehicle, says the 'surprise' cut has taken the fleet industry by storm.

Jonathan Murray, manager of transport projects at the EST, says the 29% reduction in LPG and CNG was just the push the industry needed to start switching to alternative fuels. He said that now, for the first time, it was viable for fleets, even without a Powershift grant, to start using LPG. According to his figures fleets can recover the extra acquisition cost of buying a dual fuel 2.0-litre LPG Vauxhall Vectra in fuel savings after just 50,000 miles, whereas before the Budget the figure was 70,000 miles. With a 75% grant the break even point, at which point the car becomes cheaper to run, is just 14,000 miles.