Both European manufacturers are committed to continue offering alternative vehicle solutions for heavy duty applications giving priority to NGVs. In the case of Iveco, the first units of Stralis Natural Power Euro VI have already been deployed to European customers. This company has long embraced this challenge, especially for transport missions in sectors such as the distribution, short and medium-long range logistics and municipal services, such as waste collection and transportation.
A total of over 12,000 natural gas powered Iveco units have been sold to date, 2,000 of which were sold in 2013. The new Stralis Natural Power Euro VI with 2 and 3-axle rigids and 2-axle tractors, manufactured on the same assembly line as Diesel models at the Iveco plant in Madrid, are fitted with a Cursor 8 Natural Power engine, ranging from 270 to 330 hp.
Along with the CNG version, for the medium and long range missions the Stralis Natural Power is available also with LNG for a cruising range of 750 km.
From another perspective, Scania says that if interest in biodiesel is high, interest in natural gas fuel is even higher. The NGV market is primarily driven by the availability and low price of natural gas. But there is also a growing demand for biogas since it operates on the same engine. The truck builder offers a broad range of Euro 6 engines for (bio)methane.
While natural gas is a fossil fuel, it still produces a 15–20 percent reduction in CO2 emissions compared with diesel. Biogas, which is renewable, can, at best, help reduce CO2 emissions by up to 95 percent. There are estimates that forecast that one-fifth of all trucks over 18 tons by 2020 will operate on gas. In order to further speed up development, the EU has just decided that by 2021 the longest distance between filling stations for compressed gas, CNG/CBG, is to be 150 kilometers and not more than 400 kilometers for liquid gas, LNG/LBG.
Sources: Iveco / Scania.
