Three suppliers and consultants sign up for cost and emissions savings initiative
Scania Australia has flagged its effort to make alternative fuels an “easier choice” for the local transport and logistics firms.
The company reveals it has recently signed memoranda of understanding with three bio-fuels providers with that in mind.
In recent weeks, Scania has signed MOUs with Wilmar Bioethanol Australia, Ecotech Biodiesel, and the NGV Group, who are the infrastructure suppliers and consultants for natural gas and biogas.
“Having held many discussions at high levels with a number of transport related entities throughout the course of the year, from governments to operators and suppliers and having noted significant enthusiasm for actually turning this into action, Scania is now moving to facilitate the adoption of alternative-fuelled vehicles in Australia,” Scania Australia’s sustainable solutions manager, Anthony King, says.
“We have therefore embarked on a programme of creating MOUs with a number of key suppliers who will supply reliable, consistent and widely available fuels for customers nominating alternative fuels for their future Scania vehicles.
“This is all part of our drive towards creating a sustainable transport future.
“Sustainability at Scania is based on the three pillars of energy efficiency; alternative fuels, electrification; and smart and safe transport.
“Transport contributes a quarter of total energy-related CO2 emissions and it is these emissions that are contributing to climate change. Operators do not have to wait to adapt their businesses to a sustainable transport system – the solutions are already here.
“Scania can provide a broad range of platforms and services to support our customers today and tomorrow.”
The company insists it does not see a one-size-fits-all solution, rather it believes that by driving the shift through optimised transport systems and by choosing sustainable fuel pathways it is already assisting its customers to reduce emissions.
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“Scania has a long heritage of designing and engineering and putting into production alternative-fuelled vehicles across our bus and truck divisions as well as our industrial engines,” King says.
“We already have a long-running association with gas engine supplier Sandfirden, with the first industrial gas engines already in use in Australia, able to run on waste-generated methane.
“The arrangements we are putting in place now with Wilmar Bioethanol, Ecotech Biodiesel and NGV Group are the first steps in the programme to be able to import, distribute, sell, service and maintain vehicles that run on alternative fuels, or hybrids that run on alternative fuels as well.”
While Scania is awaiting the arrival of its first hybrid buses — said to be showing a 25 per cent reduction in fuel use and emissions— early next year, it believes there are runs already on the board in trucks.
“We are also looking at alternative-fuelled trucks for some customers, and we have seen in Sweden the success of the Scania hybrid truck for urban distribution,” King says.
“These have the ability to run short distances on battery power alone, which allows them access to densely-populated urban areas at night for deliveries or waste collection, which leads to a reduction in congestion during daylight rush hours.
“In the UK, Scania has worked with the John Lewis Partnership, a leading, premium country-wide supermarket and department store chain to deliver bio-methane-fuelled trucks for medium-duty distribution work.
“These vehicles have a range of up to 800km and achieve a CO2 reduction of 70 per cent.”
Scania says it has a broad alternative fuels engine portfolio, and these can operate on compressed natural gas (CNG -15% CO2), compressed biogas (CBG -90% CO2), liquefied natural gas (LNG -5% CO2) bioethanol (-90% CO2), biodiesel (-85% CO2) and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO -90% CO2) and hybrid and HVO (-90% CO2).