Refuelling milestone for Volvo FM LNG truck

Volvo Trucks has brought its first gas-powered FM LNG truck to the UK — with the vehicle’s first refuel taking place at Calor’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility at Donington Park Services.

The FM LNG is a gas-powered truck with a powertrain based on Volvo’s diesel engine technology. Using LNG means that the vehicle produces significantly lower emissions of Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon Dioxide and Sulphur Oxides, the manufacturer claims.

Volvo Trucks marked the first refuel of its FM LNG truck at the Calor refuelling station at Donington Park Services

A colourless, odourless liquid fuel, LNG is created by cooling natural gas to a temperature of around -162°C. When cooled to this temperature, the gas liquefies and reduces in volume.

Calor’s fuelling station is located off the M1 motorway at Junction 23a. The publicly-accessible LNG refuelling station is one of seven available from Calor in the UK.

Martin Tomlinson, Head of Product Demonstration — UK & Ireland at Volvo Group Trucks, said: “LNG is the fuel that is best positioned to quickly become a competitive and globally available alternative to diesel. The development of our new FM LNG truck is the result of our commitment to transportation that is sustainable in the long term, through energy-efficient, competitive and future-proof solutions with a low climate and environmental impact.

“Ensuring that the necessary infrastructure is in place to support the uptake of LNG is absolutely critical, which is why Calor’s investment in its LNG refuelling network across the UK is so important. Moving to LNG will help cut the long-haul transport industry’s dependence on diesel, lower CO2 emissions and help haulage companies meet their customers’ increasingly tougher environmental demands.”

Network

Mark Gilks, Transport Specialist at Calor, added: “The benefits of LNG for HGVs are clear. With leading truck manufacturers predicting that natural gas-powered vehicles could account for 20% of HGVs sold by the early 2020s, the future opportunities for LNG are really exciting.

“For long-haul HGVs, LNG is a low carbon, competitively-priced fuel solution with good availability. Our publicly accessible LNG refuelling network is the largest in the UK. As well as Donington, we operate stations in Lockerbie, Castleford in West Yorkshire, Lymm in Warrington, Grantham, Wolverhampton and Bristol. With plans to expand this network further already underway, we are committed to helping the industry towards a more sustainable future.

“It was great to have Volvo’s new FM LNG truck fuel for the very first time at our LNG station in Donington, and we look forward to welcoming more LNG-dedicated trucks to our facilities as uptake continues to grow.”