August 27th AGA began the construction of the first filling station for liquid and compressed biogas in Norway. The biogas station on Furuset, Oslo, will deliver the most sustainable liquid fuel around.
The station opens early December 2018 and will primarily serve the heavy transport in Oslo. The goal is to establish a network of filling stations in Norway to supply transport infrastructure between all major cities in Norway in an environmentally sustainable way.
"Today, there are about 700 biogas vehicles in Eastern Norway," says Lars Tveitan Østvold, Sales Manager Clean Energy in AGA.
"That number is already increasing, therefore it’s vital with a well-developed infrastructure. AGA in Norway has since 2009 established 19 filling stations, but the potential is much greater. The organization Enova provides investment support to transportation companies that invest in biogas-driven vehicles and construction machinery, which will contribute to push things forward. The station at Leirdal will be the 20th filling station, and part of a planned infrastructure along Norway´s main transport network.“
Sustainable
The station at Leirdal supplies fuel that comes exclusively from Norwegian biological waste. AGA emphasizes the fact that it is sustainable biogas, and Lars Tveitan Østvold stresses that their biogas originates from waste only.
"The biogas is produced locally and comes from animal manure, fish waste, organic waste from forest, food waste, sludge and sewage, and thus has short lines of delivery. Bio-manure from biogas production, which brings nutrients and minerals back to farmers, is a sustainable bonus, along with biogas for transport. This is circular economy in practice”, he says.
The new liquid biogas gives an equally good mileage as diesel, and is climate neutral.
"The large truck manufacturers Volvo, Iveco, and Scania are now producing trucks and tractors running on liquid biogas," says Østvold.
"We have carried through several meetings with transport companies presenting AGAs commitment to the development of a new liquid biogas infrastructure, and the feedback is very positive. They are willing to increase their biogas-fleet significantly if there are political incentives like discounts when passing the toll-booths and an improved biogas-filling station infrastructure. "
"Our ambition is that 20 % of all heavy transport in Norway will be running on biogas by 2030, but we can’t do this alone, the authorities must be actively involved, " Østvold says.
