My environmentally aware 10-year-old is ashamed that we still drive around in a petrol-engined car. "We’re not living in the 20th century, you know," she says — and rightly so. Of course we are going to switch to a more up-to-date vehicle, especially considering that The Swedish Commission on Oil Dependence has concluded that Sweden should be able to increase its use of biofuels by 40 percent by 2020.

Eva Krutmeijer is going to switch to a green car, as her 10-year-old daughter suggests, she says. Photo: Per Gårdehall

Skeptics, however, say that it will be impossible to produce enough biofuels to meet the needs of the transport sector. Also, we want to use green raw materials for other purposes, not for vehicle fuel.

So we shouldn’t just focus on what we pump into our tanks, but also on more energy-efficient cars, smarter planning of public transport systems, and the replacement of business travel with internet communication.

Everything is possible

I pay a visit to Volvo Trucks Sweden and have a chat with three of the innovators who develop new solutions for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs): project manager Lennart Cider; research engineer Jonas Edvardsson; and Patrik Klintbom, an expert on alternative fuels.

Cider says: "We must try to improve efficiency in every way we can — but we must also focus on holistic, integrated solutions, not just engines for new fuels.”

Edvardsson agrees. "We have to look at every little leakage of energy and focus more on efficiency,” he says. “We’re still losing a lot of heat through exhaust emissions — how can we make better use of that energy?"


Gasification of biomass means making use of what would have been lost, like tree stumps. Photo: photo division/Scanpix

But how can we reduce greenhouse gas emissions when transportation keeps increasing? Klintbom looks serious, but he is optimistic. "At Volvo, we think there’s reason to view the future with confidence. Things we used to believe were impossible are now a reality," he says.

Fueling development

For a long time the switch from fossil fuels to biofuels stalled. Truck manufacturers blamed lack of access to both fuels and pumps, while planners argued that you can’t develop infrastructure when no engines are available for new fuels.

Volvo decided to develop seven concept vehicles adapted for an equal number of fuels or fuel mixtures: biodiesel, synthetic diesel, dimethyl ether (DME), methanol/ethanol, biogas, biogas with diesel and hydrogen with biogas. The new trucks were produced in record time, six months.

The question now is which one will become the standard in the years ahead. Klintbom opts for some type of gasification. “It’s the most efficient method and has the least impact on the environment," he says.


Black liquor extracted from the pulp manufacture process can be the fuel of the future. Photo: www.chemrec.se

Chemrec leads the way

In contrast to the first generation of biofuels — such as ethanol from corn, wheat or sugar beet — gasification of biomass does not compete with the cultivation of crops that could be used for food. Instead, it uses biomass that would otherwise have been lost, such as tree stumps left in forests or residue from chemical processes at papermills.

Swedish company Chemrec has developed a unique black liquor gasification technology. To manufacture pulp for things like copy paper, wood chips are boiled at high pressure and temperature to get rid of the lignin that holds the fibers together. About half of the original energy content is left in the fibers in the paper, while the rest ends up in the used cooking liquor, which is called black liquor.

Patrik Löwnertz, head of marketing and sales, says that energy in the residue can be harnessed much more efficiently than today. Chemrec now boasts an efficiency rate of 67 percent from biomass to fuel.

Spreading the word

If development continues along these lines, the pulp and paper industry can become the pulp, paper and fuel industry. The industry itself is positive, but cautious. Major investments will be needed and Chemrec has to convince the mills that the technology is reliable.

Its pilot plant for DME production will come on line at the end of 2009. Volvo plans to use DME from this plant in new engines in trials at four locations around the country. Perhaps only then, when the trucks begin rolling on Swedish DME — recycled energy from forests — will others take a real interest in what is happening.

Pulp fiction?

If all the pulp and paper mills in Sweden were to exchange their soda recovery boilers for this type of gasification technology, it could replace 25 percent of all petrol and diesel consumption in the country. Perhaps my daughter is right — fossils belong to the past.

Are you willing to give up your fossil-fueled car? Feel free to comment below! 

Eva Krutmeijer

Eva Krutmeijer is a professional science communicator and a writer. She is currently running a project at the Swedish Research Council aimed at strengthening communication between scientists and politicians.

The author alone is responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.

Classification: A272EN

This text is an edited version of the chapter "Transforming Transport" in the Swedish Institute publication Facing the Future.