The compressed natural gas-powered, 80kW, 2-litre Volkswagen Caddy began the 45,000km EcoFuel World Tour in Europe in October last year.

It entered Australia through Darwin and will travel to Alice Springs, Mt Isa, Townsville, Brisbane and Sydney before leaving the country from Melbourne.

CNG is made by compressing methane – 90% of natural gas is made up of methane – extracted from natural gas.

According to Endress+Hauser, Australia's abundant natural gas reserves have established CNG as a low-emission alternative transport fuel.

Co-sponsor of the tour and international automation solutions provider Endress+Hauser said it was working closely with researchers and developers of alternative eco-friendly fuels.