Number of gas-fuelled trucks increasing rapidly in the Nordics

More and more trucks are now running on liquefied gas. Gas is gaining ground thanks to its low emissions and competitiveness and its improving distribution network.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is be­coming an increasingly popular fuel for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs). This is largely due to the EU and national targets set for emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions from new HDVs must be cut in the EU by 15% from the 2019 level by 2025, and the reduction target for 2030 is 30%. LNG use can help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 20% compared with diesel use. Using lique­fied biogas (LBG) reduces emissions by up to 90% compared with diesel. Switch­ing to LBG does not require any modifi­cations to gas-fuelled vehicles.

Fuel price competitive against diesel

Liquefied gas is a cost-effective fuel choice, and many countries currently provide incentives accelerating the switch from diesel to gas in heavy-duty road transport.

Liquefied biogas is a highly competi­tive choice, as it will be tax-exempt for the next ten years in Sweden. This is unique compared with other sustainable fuels. 

Jaa:
– Mikael Antonsson, Gasum’s Director of Traffic in Sweden

The transition to cleaner fuels is taking place fast in countries such as Sweden. Sweden is committed to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by 70% from the 2010 level by 2030. The Swedish govern­ment promotes gas-fuelled transport in many ways, such as providing transport companies with support for replacing diesel vehicles with more sustainable solutions.

“The growth in demand for gas is also driven by consumers. Companies also want solutions that cut greenhouse gas emissions today – not in five or ten years from now,” Antonsson points out.

Filling station network growing

Gasum aims to build a network of 50 fill­ing stations for LNG trucks in the Nordics in the next few years.

There is cur­rently major demand in Europe for vehi­cles with an LNG engine, particularly in Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Spain.

“There was a momentary dip in LNG vehicle production during the COVID-19 spring, but data from our manufacturers now shows a bounce back to the pre-coronavirus pandemic level”, says An­tonsson.

25.11.2020