One of the big contributors to rising food prices over the past year has been the cost of getting food from the field to the grocer. Truck drivers across Europe and especially in the UK have been protesting increasing fuel costs for months. The U.S. Department of Energy is partnering with the Swedish government and one of the largest manufacturers of heavy trucks - the Volvo group - to find ways to reduce the fuel consumption of those trucks. The two governments and Volvo have already previously committed $12 million to the joint development program and this week announced an additional $36 million dollars. The two governments will each contribute $9 million of the new funds with the rest coming from Volvo. The goal is to reduce fuel consumption of the truck engines by 10 percent. The program will evaluate biofuels in heavy truck engines as well as develop advanced transmissions, new engines and hybrid drive systems.

[Source: Department of Energy]

In Sweden this past week, Volvo representatives proudly displayed the company's lineup of carbon-neutral trucks. The words Volvo uses to describe the line-up are "carbon free," but emissions still come out the tailpipe. The biomass components of the fuels make the net result carbon neutral, Volvo materials admit beneath the "carbon free" headline.

Volvo exhibited trucks with 9-litre engines running on seven types of alternative fuels. You can read details after the jump, but the types are as follows: biodiesel, biogas, biogas + biodiesel, dimethyl ether (DME), ethanol/methanol, synthetic diesel, and hydrogen gas + biogas.

A member of Volvo Group Management and senior vice president, public and environmental affairs, Jan-Eric Sundgren, explained in a release why the company is so interested in alternative fuel diversity: "We know that in the foreseeable future there will be insufficient biomass or renewable fuels to fully replace fossil fuels. That is why it is important that decisions on the production of future fuels are preceded by such comprehensive assessments – otherwise there is the risk that we focus on too many and quite simply unsuitable alternatives, which will delay the introduction of carbon dioxide-free transport."

[Source: Volvo]

Every single major automaker is investing heavily in an attempt to meet the demand of emerging markets such as Eastern Europe and China. The industry has termed this group of developing nations the "BRIC's", which stands for Brazil, Russia, India and China. These markets are currently smaller than other major markets, but they won't be staying that way for long. Obviously, the giants in the automotive industry would like to step in and stake their claim before anybody else does.

Here is a press release which shows just how much money stands to be made in these emerging markets. Remember, it takes money to make money, or so they say, so expect to see more announcements similar to the above press release in the near future. The article highlights Volvo's monetary commitment to a plant which builds large heavy duty diesel engines for trucks, as well as gearboxes. The article also mentions that money will be spent on "environment-enhancing measures" but leaves it at that.

[Source: Volvo]

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We've had a few manini (Hawaiian pidgin for small-time) stories on Volvo trucks in Europe and how they're cleaner and more fuel efficient than ever before. Companies like them (reduced fuel costs) and now we learn that Volvo likes them a lot, too, because 105,000 sales of these trucks helped propel Volvo Trucks' sales of to an all-time high in 2006, two percent higher than 2005.

Some of the sales weren't only to people who wanted cleaner engines. Volvo admits that U.S. sales were up in 2006 thanks to new exhaust regulations that went into effect on January 1, and people wanted to buy trucks with "existing technology."

Luckily, Volvo's existing technology is quite clean and green. Volvo's FH and FM trucks meet Euro 5 emissions standards (which don't kick in until 2009) and the North American market now gets the more aerodynamic VN and VT.

A news item like this gives us the perfect opportunity to take a quick look back at related stories, the bricks that built the road to get Volvo to their recent announcement. Maybe they weren't so manini after all. Here ya go:

• Volvo revving up its trucks with heavy-duty hybrid drivetrains
• Sweden plans to abandon fossil fuels completely by the year 2020
• Volvo truck factory in Sweden going a little easier on the environment
• Mack, Volvo find plenty of resistance under big-rig trailers
• New Volvo trucks will meet 2009's Euro V regulations
• Volvo's CO2-free factory still on target to open in 2007

[Source: Volvo]

Truck manufacturer AB Volvo, which has full control of the Mack Trucks brand in North America and Renault Trucks in Europe, announced it will showcase its environmentally-friendly engines at the IAA commercial vehicle show in Hanover that starts on September 21. The new medium-duty and heavyweight long haul trucks (not pictured) will all meet the Euro V requirements that don't officially kick in until 2009. The trucks will emit 80 percent fewer particulates and 50 percent less nitrogen oxide than trucks that are operating under the current Euro III legislation. Platinum Today reports that Volvo AB will "proudly present its parallel hybrid technology for large, long-haul vehicles, combining an electric motor and a diesel engine. Both components of the so-called D7 unit can work independently, reducing fuel consumption by more than a third on short urban journeys."

[Source: Platinum Today]