June 29, 2024. A new biogas-power milk truck has been transporting milk to Valio’s Riihimäki and Jyväskylä dairies since the beginning of May. The liquefied biogas-powered truck has 85% lower emissions than a diesel-powered collection truck. Valio’s aim is to annually increase the number of milk collection trucks running on biogas as the distribution network develops.
”Using renewable biogas in transports is the circular economy at its best. The new biogas-powered collection truck is more powerful than previous biogas-powered trucks, and therefore it can collect and transport larger quantities of milk than the previous less powerful gas-powered trucks. The truck can take on as much as ca. 48 tonnes, i.e. on average, the milk from about 18 Valio’s dairy farms. Transporting more milk in a single load cuts costs and emissions,” reports Petteri Laine, Head of Logistics with responsibility for milk collection and transports.
The new milk truck is fueled by liquefied biogas (LBG), produced from industrial by-products and municipal waste. The truck collecting milk from Valio’s farms in Hartola, Sysmä and Joutsa travels about 800 kilometres a day and is refuelled either in Jyväskylä or Lahti. Valio now has six LBG-powered trucks collecting milk.
Valio’s milk collection trucks were driven a total of 18.8 million kilometres in 2023. Of these, about 1.2 million kilometres were driven by biogas-powered trucks. This reduced emissions from milk collection by around 750 tonnes of carbon dioxide during the year, which is about 6% of total milk collection emissions.
