Five years ago, Volvo Trucks launched its trucks that can run on bio-LNG. Now, the manufacturer is presenting a new, stronger natural gas truck that can run on this renewable fuel. The new vehicle can carry out demanding, long distance transport tasks, while reducing overall CO2 emissions.
The Volvo FH and FM LNG trucks are getting a new power level of 500 hp, joining the previous 420 and 460 hp engines. The gas engines also get major technical upgrades that make them up to 4% more fuel efficient, which together with a new 10% larger gas tank, contribute to a longer range of up to 1,000 km.
“Biogas is a great complement to electric transports, helping haulers with their sustainability ambitions and aims towards climate neutral transports,” said Daniel Bergstrand, product manager for gas-powered trucks at Volvo Trucks. “Our efficient gas-powered trucks have a performance comparable to their diesel equivalents. Fueling up is almost as fast as a diesel truck and the growing network of more than 600 fuel stations for both bio-LNG and LNG in Europe makes them ideal for long-haul transports.”
The strengthened NGV line up fits well with Volvo Trucks three-path strategic roadmap to reach zero emissions: battery electric trucks, fuel cell trucks and combustion engines that run on renewable fuels like biomethane (bio-LNG and bio-CNG), HVO or even green hydrogen.
“Several technical solutions are needed because the availability of energy and fuel infrastructure differs greatly between countries and regions, and also because the requirements for each transport assignment can vary,” added Bergstrand.
European production of bio-LNG is expected to ramp up quickly to shift away from the use of fossil LNG. The EU Commission has put forward a plan called REPower EU, where the focus is on creating greatly increased domestic production capacity for different kinds of energy. The plan is to boost annual biogas production 10 times by 2030 and the sector has already started a rapid growth phase. Also outside of Europe the potential for biogas is gaining interest.
Source: Volvo Trucks
