In Europe, they're partway through the seventh Blue Corridor Natural Gas Vehicle Rally, where natural-gas-powered vehicles are driving from St. Petersburg, Russia, around the Baltic Sea with stops along the way in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to demonstrate the benefits of using natural gas in transportation.

Last Thursday, buses, trucks and passenger cars and vans gathered to fuel up on CNG before embarking on a 16-day, 4,000 kilometer journey around the Baltic Sea to highlight the benefits of natural gas transportation in Europe. Sponsored by Russian natural gas company Gazprom and German natural gas company E.ON, the rally will feature events along the route route promoting natural gas as a vehicle fuel.

Since the start of the Blue Corridor Natural Gas Vehicle Rally in 2008, the use of natural gas in transport globally has nearly doubled from 9.5 million to 18 million natural gas vehicles. In Europe, 1.5 million natural gas vehicles are already on the road, and this number is quickly growing.

Over the weekend, the rally crossed Finland for the first time in its history. With only 1,300 natural gas-powered vehicles nationwide, this type of natural gas transportation does not have the same presence in Finland as it does in some other European nations. But it is an emerging market.

From Finland, the rally participants traveled on a CNG-powered ferry across the Baltic to Stockholm, Sweden.

In a stop in Sweden today, Staffan Johanneson of the Swedish Gas Association notes that in 2008, Sweden had 15,000 natural gas vehicles. Today, there are 44,000.

For more information, pictures and videos, and to follow the rally, visit
www.bluecorridor.org.