Volvo DME Trucks of the Future...In the Future

Volvo is no slouch when it comes to developing green trucks. We heard last year about their push to run semi trucks on alternative fuels, including dimethyl ether (DME). They’ve made progress, or at least enough to send out a press release. Still, it’s worth mentioning because of their choice of fuel.

Towards the end of 2009, Volvo will be ready to road test 14 trucks that will use DME. The fuel is created through gasification of biomass (or coal, or natural gas), with the syngas catalysed into DME. It works for diesel engines but burns cleaner, with far fewer particulate and 90% less NOx emissions – and of course zip CO2 if the DME is derived from biomass. But the problems popping up with it include its poor lubricity, its lower energy density compared to diesel, and low viscosity among others. You know, little things…

The trucks will be handed out to trucking companies that will see how they hold up under normal operating conditions over the course of three years, where issues with the engines and fuel will be uncovered and, hopefully, fixed. This test is part of a larger European project that will measure the feasibility of DME, including fueling stations. Out of all the many alternative fuels Volvo has been testing, they believe DME has one of the best potentials for boosting efficiency while minimizing emissions and cost.

From exactly what source they’re creating all this DME (which I don't yet know, but intend to find out) is a big factor since renewable sources would be far more preferable to fossil fuels. One attractive option for Sweden is using black liquor – the residual waste from paper pulp production. Sounds cool. But China, on the other hand, looks hungrily at their coal reserves for their DME, making the fuel not as attractive as an alternative.

Via AutoblogGreen, Newspress.co.uk, GreenCarCongress, Enzen Whitepaper

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written by Andrew, July 16, 2008

I think saying that there are no CO2 emissions when DME is burning is a bit misleading. This is a carbon based fuel. CO2 will be emitted when it is burned. What I think you're getting at is if the DME is derived from, say plants, and not fossil fuels then there is no net carbon going into the atmosphere.