Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp and partner Air Water are still working on a pilot project aimed at deploying a network of compact LNG filling stations in the country.
Mitsubishi and Air Water said in October last year they had developed the first portable LNG filling system for trucks in Japan.
They also claim the system to be the world’s first off-grid power-generation system capable of fueling trucks with LNG even during power outages.
The duo began testing the system in Hokkaido in November providing the fuel to three LNG-powered trucks.
In an update released on Thursday, the two firms said the pilot project had been adopted for inclusion in the environment ministry’s low carbon technology research and development program.
The project will take advantage of compact LNG filling stations installed at space-limited logistics facilities to optimize the fueling of heavy, LNG-powered trucks.
Moreover, the stations, which will be networked through the application of IoT technologies, will receive LNG from “large, LNG-carrier trucks,” the statement said.
“Secondly, by mixing the LNG with liquefied biomethane, the project will endeavor to achieve significant reductions in CO2 emissions compared to those generated by conventional, diesel-fueled heavy trucks,” they said.
The partners said they plan to continue assessing the overall effectiveness of the pilot project and how much it can reduce CO2 emissions and fuel costs.
The results of the tests would help them to determine whether or not to make the system commercially available.
According to the duo, most of the 500,000 heavy trucks on Japan’s roads go on diesel, while there are no LNG-powered trucks in commercial use.