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This fuel of the future is already powering Volvo trucks
Oct 23, 2014, 3:09pm EDT

Dawn Wallace
Staff Writer-
Triangle Business Journal

Dimethyl ether (DME) could be the fuel of the future, and Volvo Trucks of Greensboro has vehicles that run on it in place of diesel.
Parked at the Raleigh Convention Center for the Alternative Fuels Conference and Expo this week, the blue truck demonstrates how trucks fueled by DME would run relatively the same as trucks fueled by diesel.
Frank Bio, director of sales development for specialty vehicles and alternative fuels for Volvo Trucks says 1.8 gallons of DME has about the same power as 1 gallon of diesel, and with some mainstreaming, could be a boon to the state.
"I've got customers asking me to make this. It's a prototype right now, but we drive it. We have driven it about 10,000 miles," says Bio. "We have partnered with a company called Oberon Fuels that produces small scale manufacturing facilities that can produce 10,000 gallons at once."
He says it's too early to say how much cheaper the production of the fuel will be compared to diesel since not many companies are making it, but the price gap should grow once the fuel is mainstreamed.
Bio says DME can be produced by agricultural waste, such as that from North Carolina's hog farms, which could partner with local trucking companies to produce and sell DME.
The only problem is that regulations and a lack of mainstreaming stand in the way of this fuel hitting the market. Volvo Trucks wants to make the trucks from scratch instead of selling converter kits to companies that run their trucks on diesel, says Bio, "to control quality."
Volvo Trucks has little to no competition in this development, but Bio says it wouldn't hurt.
"We need other manufacturers to consider building this type of engine, because the fuel standard has to be adjusted," says Bio, adding that DME is somewhat dry compared to diesel and would require a lubricant as well as a specific nozzle to address flow quality problems researchers are currently experiencing.
Bio says the company hesitates to say when this fuel could be available since many factors such as legislation and industry standards are in play, but says it will be well underway in the next few years.


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