Nordic branded consumer goods supplier trials biogas Volvo trucks
Orkla has chosen Volvo Trucks and Gasum as its partners for a two-month trial period in Sweden. During this pilot, Orkla’s transport partner GDL will use bio-LNG to power vehicles between Orkla’s warehouse in Helsingborg and its production facility in Fågelmara, Blekinge. Orkla has set the goal for all of its domestic transport in Sweden to be fossil-free by 2025. To reach this objective, higher requirements will be set for transport procurement, with natural gas being one of the options available.
Factors in favor of natural gas include the fact that Gasum is investing in the Nordic refueling network for bio-LNG to increase the number of stations to 50 by the early 2020s, and one of the stations will be located in Helsingborg and will open this summer. “We’re pleased with actors such as Orkla leading the way for sustainable transport. LNG provides great potential for emission reductions in the transport sector,” commented Mikael Antonsson, Director Traffic, Sweden, Gasum.
“The trial period is a way for us to learn more about natural gas as a road fuel both in-house for us and for our transport providers as well as to bring about change to reduce emissions from the transport sector. We want to encourage our transport providers to make more sustainable choices, and we believe that we must do this together. For sustainable transport to become a reality, haulage companies must upgrade their vehicles and we as transport clients must choose alternative fuels. There must also be filling stations available,” said Emelie Zakrisson, Category Manager Energy, Orkla.
“For us, this trial period is an exciting continuation of our transition to fossil-free alternatives. We are extending our fleet with natural gas vehicles, and this will provide us with further on-the-road experience of the pros and cons of the various technology options available today. We also value highly our constructive and competent cooperation partners in this project,” explained Anders Wendelius, Business Area Manager, GDL.
The cooperation partners hope that the trial will show that natural gas trucks help to cut fuel costs as well as emissions without any negative impacts on performance. Kicked off at the beginning of June, the trial period will be assessed by Orkla as regards the environmental and economic effects relating to transport procurement over the longer term.
“Our Volvo FH LNG trucks enable us to reduce our environmental impacts right here and right now. Filling up with biogas makes the transports fossil-free without affecting the performance of our heavy-duty vehicles – plus the fuel economy is also looking very positive,” added Stefan Strand, Managing Director, Volvo Trucks, Sweden.
