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Scania ‘Ecotrucks’ run on Clariant-produced 2G ethanol reduce carbon emissions

Clariant, a specialty chemicals giant, and Scania, a top heavy-duty vehicle manufacturer, are celebrating the results and the opportunities generated by the partnership established last year, which involved an investment in sustainable technologies for cargo transportation.

In mid-2015, Clariant acquired three Scania P 270 model 4x2 trucks, which run on ethanol and are the first of their kind to be sold by Scania in Latin America.

The Ecotrucks, as they are called, transport ISO tanks with a 25,000-litre (6,604 gallon) capacity for chemical products to the fleet of highway trucks, which then deliver the products to Clariant’s customers.

The three Scania P 270 tractor units work 24/7 in four shifts.

They are used to transport chemical products at Clariant’s plant in Suzano, in the state of São Paulo, which is the company's largest industrial complex in Latin America.

The trucks were purchased from the Scania Codema dealership in São Paulo.

After nearly a year of using the Ecotrucks, Clariant can verify a reduction in CO2 emissions by approximately 90% compared to the diesel engines that were used before.

“Clariant is making history in Latin America with this innovative project that demonstrates the value of using ethanol trucks for daily operations,” said Celso Mendonça, business development manager for Scania Brazil.”

Mendonça added: “Clariant's example is drawing interest from other companies that have already contacted Scania about this solution.”

He explained: "Scania values sustainability, so it believes in having an energy matrix that is mixed, uses different sources and allows for fuel savings and a reduction in CO2 emissions.

"Ethanol-fuelled trucks are a solution for companies committed to reducing the environmental impacts of their transportation operations. It is a 100% viable option."

‘Master Batch’

The ethanol fuel used by the Scania trucks contains the Master Batch ED 95 additive produced by Clariant Brasil.

The fact that it’s produced locally was essential to the viability of the project as this optimizes costs and logistics, Clariant said in a statement.

The additive allows engines designed to run on diesel to run on hydrous ethanol because it adjusts the characteristics of the fuel to the engines’ requirements in order to make the vehicle run well.

As the second phase of this project, Clariant started using second-generation ethanol as part of the fuel to operate the Ecotrucks.

This ethanol is manufactured from sugar cane bagasse using Clariant’s sunliquid technology.

"The company's initiative with the Ecotruck project supports its environmental goals and reinforces our approach to sustainability, including verifying the positive results of the solutions we provide to the biofuel market, especially the innovative sunliquid technology," said Paulo Itapura, head of Sustainability & Regulatory Affairs for Clariant Latin America.

Performance tests verify the performance of the sunliquid technology, Clariant said. Sunliquid technology represents an innovative biotechnological process used for the manufacture of cellulosic ethanol from agricultural waste such as wheat straw, corncob residue or sugar cane bagasse.

 

 





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