BioLNG Euronet Consortium to promote LNG as road transport fuel in Europe

• 07 Dec 2018

On Thursday 5th December 2018 - during the COP24 summit, the 24th United Nations Conference on Climate Change, in Katowice, Poland - a new consortium named BioLNG EuroNet, comprising  IVECO, CNH Industrial Capital Europe under the trademark of IVECO Capital, Shell, DISA, Scania and Nordsol, has been formed to support the use of LNG as fuel for road transport in Europe. 

According to a joint statement, each member will deliver separate activities that will see 2,000 more LNG trucks on the road, 39 LNG fuelling stations and the construction of a BioLNG production plant in the Netherlands.

The LNG retail stations will form part of a pan-European network and be built in Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland, approximately every 400 km along core road network corridors from Spain to eastern Poland.

The BioLNG facility will produce 3,000 MT/year of BioLNG and will use biomethane produced from waste.

Pierre Lahutte, IVECO Brand President, said: “This project opens the possibility for a seamless transition to a circular economy approach based on generating energy from waste. This makes even negative GHG emissions and carbon sequestration possible. The project’s funding will enable us to help our customers convert their fleets to LNG through competitive IVECO Capital finance & leasing plans, increasing the number of natural gas vehicles on European roads and making progress towards a sustainable transport industry.”

“LNG is an increasingly affordable fuel for heavy goods vehicles which will make it an important energy source as the transport sector evolves,” said Istvάn Kapitάny, Executive Vice President, Shell Retail. “Shell is committed to offering our customers more lower carbon energy and the new LNG Retail stations are a vital piece of the puzzle. I look forward to seeing this important network of stations welcome European customers in the years to come.”

“This program covers filling stations, biofuel production and subsidies which are all necessary for progressive customers to invest in the trucks, despite the extra initial cost,” said Jonas Nordh, Director, Sustainable Transport Solutions, Scania. “Whilst LNG, which reduces CO₂ emissions by up to 20 percent, is more broadly available today, biogas, which reduces CO₂emissions by over 90 percent, will increasingly be blended in with the natural gas and production of biogas ramped up.”

“Unlocking BioLNG will enable LNG as the future energy source for the large transport sector,” said Jerom van Roosmalen, founding partner at Nordsol. “Nordsol is determined to make BioLNG mainstream as a clean and safe advanced biofuel that is widely available at an affordable price. Our BioLNG concept is built around this mission and we look forward to rollout this expansion with the consortium partners.”

Each BioLNG EuroNet consortium member will receive 20 percent funding from the EU towards the cost of their commitments under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the transport sector.