Transporter Eric Mattheeuws has acquired 26 LNG-powered trucks and Fluxys Belgium's parent company Fluxys is investing in a brand-new LNG filling station. The station will be built in Veurne on the premises of the haulage company and is to be operational in the summer. This initiative is an important step in the launch of LNG as a sustainable alternative fuel for trucks in Belgium.


Eric Mattheeuws, who last week won the Green Truck Award at the Transport & Logistics Awards 2014, said: "The switchover to LNG means a drastic reduction in emissions from the trucks and has considerable financial advantages as well. With Fluxys's investment in the LNG filling station, the logistics supply chain is now complete. We have developed a unique partnership with Fluxys, Eni, Volvo Trucks and Romac Fuels to promote LNG as a valid alternative to bio-petroleum. The initial tests are very promising. If, six months after opening the filling station, you read about additional investments being made, then you can be sure that LNG has begun its conquest!"

Fluxys CEO Walter Peeraer said: "Transporters are holding off on switching to LNG for lack of filling stations and no filling stations are being built because there are no customers. By joining forces with transporter Eric Mattheeuws, we are breaking this vicious circle and lowering the threshold for other transporters to make the switch to LNG as a sustainable alternative to diesel."


Pilot project

The filling station will have a 60 m3 LNG storage tank; all permits have been granted so that construction can start. The station will be supplied by tanker truck from the LNG terminal in Zeebrugge. Transporter Eric Mattheeuws will operate and perform minor maintenance on the station, which will also be accessible to other transport companies.


For Fluxys, the filling station is a pilot project in terms of engineering, technology, permitting and investment. The experience gained with the project and the feedback from Eric Mattheeuws as transporter and operator of the station is to yield recommendations and best practices Fluxys can use when building additional stations.


LNG: immediate improvement in air quality

LNG (liquefied natural gas) is natural gas which has been converted to liquid form by cooling it to -161°C. This reduces its volume to 1/600th: 1 cubic metre of natural gas becomes 1.67 litre of liquefied natural gas; a lot of energy in a compact form.

LNG has a very promising future in freight transport and shipping due to its favourable emissions profile. Compared to diesel or heavy fuel oil, natural gas has the smallest carbon footprint and switching to natural gas also has an immediate impact on air quality and health:

  • up to 20% less CO2; 
  • up to 90% less nitrogen oxide (NOx); 
  • negligible quantity of sulphur and particulates.
Press contacts

Fluxys
Rudy Van Beurden                       Laurent Remy
Tel.: +32 2 282 72 30                    Tel.: +32 282 74 50
rudy.vanbeurden@fluxys.comlaurent.remy@fluxys.com

Mattheeuws Eric Transport
Eric Mattheeuws
Tel.: +32 58 33 51 11
eric@mattheeuws.eu

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