ClearFlame Engine Technologies, which is working on a system to facilitate the efficient use of plant-derived, renewable fuels in heavy-duty engines, has successfully completed an ‘on-road’ demonstration of its proprietary technology.
“This demonstration proves the workability of our technology that takes the dirty diesel fuel out of heavy-duty trucks,” said BJ Johnson, ClearFlame CEO and co-founder. “The transportation sector is currently the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions. Simply hoping that we get to net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050 is not good enough. If we want to get serious in the fight against climate change, we need more solutions that can enable swift decarbonization today, particularly for heavy-duty trucks, which are among the worst offenders.”
Julie Blumreiter, ClearFlame’s co-founder and chief technology officer, noted, “Due to the incredible work and dedication of our engineering team we’ve taken a massive step in showing the world how our technology is a game-changer for decarbonization of the heavy-duty transportation sector. This vehicle is truly one-of-a-kind – the only Class 8 truck to run on 100% ethanol fuel without any additives and without any diesel fuel.
“Driving this vehicle today is actually less carbon intensive than a comparable electric-powered truck. The ClearFlame-enabled engine meets the performance and efficiency requirements customers expect from their diesel trucks, while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs.”
The demonstration of ClearFlame’s engine technology was implemented by taking a Class 8 diesel truck running on a Cummins X15 500hp 15L heavy-duty engine, commonly used for long-haul truck and off-highway applications, and converting it to run on renewable E98 ethanol. While the wide availability, cost-effectiveness, and lower emissions of ethanol make it the fuel of choice today for the engine, ClearFlame’s technology is fuel agnostic and can run on a range of renewable fuels.
ClearFlame says it will continue testing its trucks under various operating conditions throughout Q1 2022, with customer beta testing underway by the end of 2022.
