Conservative party leader David Cameron paid a visit to Scania's headquarters in Södertälje earlier this week when he travelled to Sweden as guest of the country’s Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt.  With their focus firmly fixed on climate change, Scania was selected as an ideal venue for a meeting.

As well as discussing a variety of transport-related issues, including the use of alternative fuels, Mr Cameron was given the opportunity to test drive a selection of trucks and buses at the Scania DemoCentre.

During the visit, Scania’s President and Chief Executive Officer Leif Östling outlined the company’s environmental work. “Between 1970 and 2000, we halved carbon dioxide emissions per tonne-kilometre from our vehicles.  By 2020 we will have done so again,” he said.

As Mr Cameron and team prepared to leave for a round of talks with a number of Swedish ministers, he expressed his appreciation for the briefing.  ”Thank you to Scania for hosting such an interesting visit,” he said.  ”Scania is absolutely right:  We face big environmental challenges and business very often has the answer in terms of technology and research.”

Scania:  Transport developments and alternative fuels

Scania has long been at the forefront of efforts to develop more efficient engines and reduce rolling and air resistance. In addition, Swedish authorities have increased the maximum permitted weight. As a result, between 1970 and 2000 Scania halved fuel consumption per tonne-kilometre for truck haulage. The company’s goal is to halve fuel consumption once again by 2020.

Scania also invests in the development of engines powered by renewable fuels. All engines that Scania manufactures can operate on biodiesel, for example rapeseed methyl ester (RME).

For urban transport, Scania considers ethanol the most suitable alternative today. As the world’s largest manufacturer of ethanol-powered city buses, Scania has good experience in this field and has delivered 600 such buses to date. Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL), the Stockholm regional public transport operations with such buses are under way in a number of major cities around company, has operated ethanol buses in regular service since 1989 and trial the world.

Scania also develops other cutting-edge technology.  It is currently working on a very promising hybrid drive concept based exclusively on proven technology. Diesel, ethanol or gas-powered engines are supplemented with an electrical motor/generator for propulsion and energy recovery, as well as ultracapacitors for energy storage. This makes the powertrain very efficient, with potential fuel saving of 25 percent or more. Such hybrid vehicles are expected to be ready for marketing within a five-year period.

Scania also works with driver training, aimed at getting drivers to focus on safe driving and reduced fuel consumption. A well-trained driver can reduce fuel consumption by about 10 percent as well as being likely to contribute towards better road safety.