PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
According to the International Energy Agency, globally, over 30% of transport-related air pollutants and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from road freight transport. In Europe, around 70% of freight is transported by road, with some 7 million diesel trucks operating in all Member States, while annual registrations of new trucks increased by 45% from 2010 to 2016, to around 380 000. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), diesel-powered Heavy-Duty Vehicles (HDVs) account for 27% of total on-road emissions, more than double that of passenger cars which stands at 12%. This share is expected to increase to around 45% in a business-as-usual scenario. Today, transport still relies on oil for 94% of its energy needs and Europe imports around 87% of its crude oil and oil products from abroad, with a crude oil import bill estimated at around 187 billion, and additional costs to the environment.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE DUALNG project proposed a disruptive, clean, integrated and economically attractive Diesel Dual Fuel (DDF) technology. This sought to be marketed as a kit, exploiting a mixture of diesel fuel with either Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) or biomethane, suitable for the retrofitting of diesel-powered Heavy-Duty Vehicles (HDVs) including buses, trucks and vans, and also potentially ship engines.
The specific objectives of the project were to:
- Install the kit on 50 HDVs and validate the dual-fuel technology in real-scale road tests;
- Analyse and prove the environmental benefits, and the social and economic advantages, for owners of HDVs who retrofit their vehicles; and
- Involve all value chain stakeholders, especially policymakers, to support the diffusion of the dual-fuel technology in the EU.
The project aimed to contribute to a range of EU policies, including EC Transport White Paper 2011, Clean Vehicles Directive (2009/33/EC), and the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive (2014/94/EU).
RESULTS
LIFE DUALNG did not achieve its expected results fully. However, some results were achieved as follows.
An innovative, clean and integrated Diesel Dual Fuel (DDF) technology has been developed and validated. This system is to be marketed as a retrofitting kit for diesel-powered Heavy-Duty Vehicles (HDVs) including buses, trucks and vans, exploiting a mixture of diesel fuel with either Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) or biomethane.
The system, installed on 21 HDV for demonstration purposes, allows a reduction in air pollutants for some categories of retrofitted vehicles: fine dust is reduced by 32% and ozone precursors (NOx) by 20%. The dual fuel diesel-CNG buses equipped with the DDF system also have a lower GWP and emit about 12% less CO2-eq.
Project results support the implementation of the of the EC Transport White Paper 2011, the Clean Vehicles Directive (2009/33/EC), the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive 2014/94/EU and National and regional legislation related to air quality and health.
The developed technology will be introduced to the market in the after-LIFE period (3-5 years after project end), thanks to the opening of a new branch in Abruzzo (Southern Italy), which is expected to facilitate the expansion of the commercial network of the beneficiaries.
