A truck that runs on paper pulp juice? Why not!
From 2010, Volvo Trucks will start conducting field tests involving Bio-DME, a biofuel that generates very low carbon dioxide emissions. In the long term, according to Volvo, Bio-DME has the potential to replace up to 50% of today’s diesel use for transport operations in Europe.
DME that is produced from biomass, known as Bio-DME, has both high energy efficiency and low greenhouse gas emissions all the way from the source to the wheel. The raw material used is ‘black liquor’, an energy-rich, highly viscous by-product of the paper pulp industry. By using Bio-DME instead of diesel as a fuel, for example, carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by up to 95%.
Volvo is participating in the project by contributing 14 Volvo FH trucks that will be tested by selected customers at four locations in different parts of Sweden between 2010 and 2012. Preem, the fuel company, will build special filling stations so the trucks can be used in regular regional and local operations. The first field-test truck was unveiled last week in Piteå, in northern Sweden, where production of four tonnes of Bio-DME per day will take place at the Smurfit Kappa Kraftliner pulp plant.
Volvo’s DME FH truck uses a regular D13 engine which, after some modifications to the tank system, injection system and engine management software, functions perfectly together with the biofuel. ‘Behind the wheel, it’s business as usual,’ says Mats Franzén, Product Manager Engines at Volvo Trucks. ‘The performance and driving properties are exactly the same as in the diesel variant. The difference and the major benefit with Bio-DME lie in its low carbon dioxide emissions.’
‘We are noting immense interest in alternative fuels among our customers and we feel that Bio-DME offers considerable potential. The field test will last three years and the subsequent evaluation will determine whether the project will lead to full-scale industrial production,’ says Claes Nilsson, President Volvo Trucks Europe Division.
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