Volvo, Statoil Start Joint Venture on Fuel Cell Technology Aimed at Cutting Emissions

STOCKHOLM, Sweden June 13, 2005; The AP reported that Swedish truck-maker Volvo AB and Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil ASA are starting a joint venture to make fuel cell technology aimed at cutting emissions from idling engines.

The new venture, Powercell, will use fuel-cell technology to build small electricity generators that can be mounted in trucks and other vehicles, the companies said Monday.

Vehicles using the fuel-cell generator would not have to run its engine on idle to generate power.

"That in turn would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from such vehicles by 20-30 tons" per year, Statoil said in a news release.

The companies said the new generator could be useful in North America, where truck drivers often sleep in their vehicles and run idle to generate power for air conditioning and other systems.

The fuel cell would be powered by hydrogen gas produced from diesel oil carried by the vehicle.

"In the long term, power units driven by fuel cells will also be used in boats, aircraft and other mobile units in which there is a need for a compact, environmentally sound and efficient power supply," said Goran Wirmark, spokesman for Volvo's technology unit.

Cars running on fuel cells that produce energy by mixing hydrogen with oxygen are already on the road in the United States and President Bush has pushed a $1.7 billion hydrogen research program. Administration officials have said it's possible fuel cell cars will be mass-marketed in 15 years.