Argentina has just reached a milestone on the road to sustainable transport with the introduction of the country’s first-ever liquid natural gas (LNG) powered trucks. In mid-September, Scania Argentina, a subsidiary of Sweden-headed truck, bus and engine maker Scania, presented a fleet of six liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered trucks to Transportes Andreu, a haulier from Mendoza, in a ceremony in Buenos Aires that was attended by officials from ENARGAS, the country’s national gas regulator.
Leonardo Andreu, Director of Transportes Andreu, certainly believes that the trucks’ blend of efficiency and clean technology will help his company.
We are always looking to meet our customers’ needs in an innovative way, with the best technology and the least impact on the environment, and that is why we have acquired these LNG trucks. With these vehicles we will be more efficient in providing our services, said Leonardo Andreu.
Scania and ENARGAS have been working together for some time to import gas-powered vehicles to Argentina, and the pioneering deal with Transportes Andreu adds to the already progress the truck maker has made towards sustainable transport in Europe.
For the first time, the country is going to have vehicles that run completely on gas, and more specifically on LNG. It is a proven technology and there are already more than 2 500 Scania trucks operating in Europe, which means that from a technological point of view, the product is an efficient, safe and aligned solution with Argentina’s energy matrix” says Julián Rosso, Head of Sales Engineering at Scania Argentina.
Lower emissions and less noise
In a neat twist that amounts to a ‘virtual pipeline’, Transportes Andreu will use the LNG-powered trucks to transport LNG. The six trucks are equipped with nine-litre, five-cylinder engines, and are capable of delivering 340 hp with a torque of 1600 Nm.
And the trucks are not only impressive in their carbon reduction and power capabilities.
In addition to the trucks’ reduction in emissions, it is also important to note that their engines are much quieter. So from the operational point of view, the customer will have an extremely powerful and efficient engine that also has a low environmental impact in terms of emissions and noise, said Rosso.
According to Guillermo Hughes, Senior Advisor for Scania Latin America, LNG is a technology with great potential for efficiency and emission reductions,
Liquefied natural gas is stored in two cryogenic tanks at a temperature of minus 163°C. With both tanks, you can achieve a range of more than 1 200 km – equal to any vehicle with a diesel engine. As well as the efficiency and performance that characterises any Scania engine, these trucks’ exhaust gases are clean and mainly consist of water vapour, and they actually far exceed the Euro 6 emission standard in force in Europe, said Guillermo Hughes.
Like the rest of Latin America, Argentina will soon be launching Scania’s new truck generation, as part of the last stage of the global rollout. New technology and alternative fuels such as LNG will continue to become a key part of Scania’s offer in the years ahead.
