Construction World Septemer 2017

FUELING CONSTRUCTION: cleaner, cheaper options on the horizon

by Paul Crankshaw

According to Mark Templeton, sustainability manager at Scania Southern Africa, the global trend is to take carbon-based fuels out of the European, North American and Chinese markets, and replace them with more environmentally-friendly options. “This has put a lot of pressure on the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to come up with sustainable solutions,” says Templeton. “Here in Southern Africa, we are taking the global sustainability philosophy of Scania and adapting it to suit our own environment – providing the core of our local sustainability strategy.” An important aspect of this strategy, he says, is to ensure that it makes economic sense for the business and its customers. “This is why Scania is busy developing bio-fuel solutions that will meet global carbon-reduction objectives, while at the same time potentially reducing fuel costs for end-users,” he says. Templeton highlights the global niche markets that are well-suited to these early efforts, such as distribution, passenger transport and waste collection. He points out that the chassis of the Scania waste collection vehicle is very similar to the chassis employed on its construction vehicles – making them ideal for their harsh, stop-start and crawl mode of application. This opens the door for Scania to support those larger construction companies that are looking to lower their carbon footprint by using bio-fuels that are more suitable for the environment but which do not necessarily carry a price premium. The challenge for South Africa is that it still does not have the production capacity for the Euro 5 or Euro 6 fuel that would be required to allow Scania construction vehicles – along with others in the product range – to achieve the strategic, clean- burning objectives. While the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) type of bio-diesels are available – as barriers to entry are low in the manufacture of these products – the resultant product quality is not up to standard for use as a carbon-fuel alternative. “The better quality hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) bio-diesels require a quantum leap in manufacturing technology and investment, and is not yet produced in South Africa,” he says. The construction sector is likely to benefit in the not-too-distant future from efforts being made by leading global transport solutions giant Scania to help customers lower their carbon footprint – and even to save fuel costs while achieving this goal.

and there will be no lack of customers for these products,” says Templeton. “Rather, the challenge is a sustainable and quality supply – which is why our focus is on helping establish production facilities that can deliver reliably at a standard that complies with global biodiesel specifications.” He says there is substantial waste product in the country that can be fed into production, so there is not necessarily any tension between crops grown for human consumption and crops that can be used for biodiesel production. Neither are the local demand volumes overly onerous; while the global market for biofuels is in the region of 14 billion litres a year, the market in South Africa is likely to be only a fraction of that – at between 100 and 300 million litres a year. Creating the skills to foster this important paradigm shift towards biodiesel is going to take some time; so Scania working with various universities to help strengthen the skills foundation that will be required to reach and sustain the required levels of quality in local bio-diesel production. “We are looking at various biofuel solutions for local markets, as Scania can offer transport options utilising ethanol, biogas, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), biodiesel and HVO,” he says. The company is also urging further involvement from government in this process, such as the consideration of subsidies for operators

Scania is working towards supporting the establishment of a couple of reliable HVO producers locally, who can produce a Euro 5 or Euro 6 standard of biodiesel that would be on par with normal diesel fuel. It is anticipated that the option would be price-neutral or may even provide a price benefit for the end-user. A further rung up the quality ladder are the biomass-to-liquid (BTL) fuels, and there is the possibility of production being established in South Africa in the near future. This would be a completely ‘green’ diesel that would run any diesel engine. “Both the HVOs and the BTLs would be ideal for the construction industry,

utilising green technology and a legislated move to Euro 5 techn-ology. Scania is committed to addressing climate change and global warming, and is already a leader in the utilisation of ethanol, gas and biodiesel. “We are encouraged by our ongoing work with local companies and municipalities,” says Tem- pleton. “We know what needs to be done, and we have the technological solutions. Addressing climate change is not an option but a necessity, and Scania is taking action.” 

Mark Templeton, sustainability manager at Scania Southern Africa.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017