Gas Trucks

Scania has an ambitious roadmap for electrification – by 2030 half of our annual sales is envisioned to be BEV. But this alone will not be enough to reach the needed GHG cuts in transport. A wide scope of GHG-reducing solutions – biomethane being one of them – are necessary.

The long average life of Heavy-Duty vehicles will require fossil diesel and gas to be actively replaced also in rolling fleets – typically by sustainable HVO, biodiesel and biomethane. If we should globally reach the halving of carbon emissions every decade, that is necessary for reducing real Well-to-Wheel GHG emissions on par with the Paris Accord.

A report by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), “Accelerating to zero”, shows that even if we as an industry meet the 50% of new sales target for BEV in 2030, then 90% of the rolling fleet will still have conventional combustion engines. These must be powered by non-fossil fuels, like biomethane, to a much larger extent than today, if we are to reach the targets.

Almost any type. Scania’s state-of-the-art gas engine – both in 9-litre and 13-litre versions - is suitable for most heavy-duty applications. Biomethane is quite simply one of the best ways to decarbonise both trucks or buses in a commercial way, offering the highest CO₂ reductions possible for a limited investment.

Our new Euro 6 gas engine line comes with 5% increased fuel efficiency. Fuel tank options are also available for both compressed gas, and liquid gas – which can provide approximately the same range as a diesel vehicle.

They are the same molecule – methane (CH₄). However, biomethane is renewable and has a much better CO₂ reduction – often over 80% as compared to fossil fuels. Biomethane and Natural Gas (CNG) are interchangeable and can be used in parallel. There is also a fuel standard for vehicle gas, EN 16723-2.

When any kind of organic waste decomposes – manure, sewage, food waste –  methane gas is produced. Organic waste can therefore be redirected away from the landfills, into a biomethane process.

As the first step, the Anaerobic Digestor Plant, the waste is collected, pre-treated and the decomposition is speeded up by friendly bacteria. The result is a mix of 50-60% methane, and the rest is mostly CO₂. This is what we call biomethane.

The biomethane is cleaned and refined, the CO₂ is separated, and the result is 97%+ methane – a vehicle grade fuel that we call biomethane.

Not only do we avoid landfill methane leakage by removing the waste, we also get valuable by-products. Like bio-fertiliser from recycling phosphorus and nitrogen, and the CO₂ is collected for food or industrial use. All by-products are collected to contribute both to the business case and the CO₂-reduction!

But pre-existing landfills will still remain for many years, leaking methane. This methane could also be captured and turned into either cooking gas – replacing wood or charcoal – or electricity via a genset. A great contribution to climate mitigation and adaptation.

With CO₂ being reduced in multiple parts through the whole system, this uniquely circular system could see a CO₂ reduction over 100%. Quite amazing. 

Almost anything organic, like:

Sewage water

• Sludge from waste water treatment plants

Organic solid waste from:

• Slaughterhouses / Abattoirs

• Plantations / Sugarcane

• Agriculture

• Fisheries

• Food production

• Breweries/Wineries

• Animal farms / Manure

• Forestry

• Food markets

Landfills

• Landfill gas

Biomethane production is increasing rapidly on a global scale, and one of the main end uses is transport. Many of the major Energy companies that Scania partners with, provide biomethane. And if you only have natural gas available, you could buy biomethane certificates – just like when purchasing green electricity.

To summarise, biomethane is really a unique circular tool – a real Swiss Army knife bringing many benefits at the same time:

• It is a key tool in decarbonising HDT

• It brings local energy security and creates new jobs.

• It brings nutrients back to the soils and replaces fossil fertiliser.

• It improves air and water quality.

• It solves the waste problem and closes landfills.

• It enables very high CO₂ reductions – at a low cost. The most CO₂ cuts for your money spent. In fact, it could even have negative emissions from a systems perspective.

This means biomethane systems contribute to almost all of the UN’s SDGs. 

Transport and landfills are both major challenges for achieving sustainability. Still dependent on fossil fuels, transport is responsible for almost a fourth of global Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.

Over 90% of the World’s organic waste goes into landfills, leaking both toxic chemicals into our fresh water, as well as methane and CO₂ into the atmosphere – with methane having a very high impact on the climate (25 to 30 times more aggressive than CO₂).

Recent reports from ISWA show that almost 10% of GHG emissions will come from landfills in 2025. Together, transport and landfills equate to almost one third of global GHG emissions – biomethane and waste-to-fuels is a way out of this double dilemma.

Let’s have a look at an example of waste to biomethane fuel management in Sweden:

Over the last decades, Sweden has gone from landfills and waste problems to almost zero landfilling. This has mainly been due to a series of progressive policies, like bans on sending organic waste to landfills, and mandatory municipal planning.

Instead, Sweden turns it into the most sustainable transport fuel there is – biomethane – or biomethane, which then mainly replaces diesel in heavy fleets. This has resulted in 95% biomethane in the Swedish vehicle gas fuel grid.

Since both the efficiency, sustainability and not least the economy is better when producing biomethane for vehicle fuel purposes, rather than heat or electricity, there is a clear shift towards fuel production in most biomethane markets.

We have a possibility to export complete waste-to-biomethane solutions from Sweden. The process starts with a pre-study, supported by Team Sweden, outlining both the transport and the waste to the biomethane system. It will also outline the business model, mapping the local ownership structure, the investment needs and income flows – all to make the system both sustainable and profitable over time.

Scania will of course implement the full transport system. And Scania will ensure on-site training of drivers, mechanics and transport planners.

Elof Hansson International will implement the full waste and biomethane system. Scania and Elof Hansson have a long history working with the Swedish Export Credit system (EKN and SEK) and financing of the complete system will be possible.

Along the whole project, also 100% supported by Team Sweden, a capacity building programme will be implemented. Including key operator on-site training in existing biomethane facilities in Sweden, combined with mentoring locally.