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Following on from our earlier entry on the Volvo FE Hybrid refuse truck, we find out that it's actually here in Britain. The vehicle is being trialled by Veolia in the City of Westminster, London, and will be tasked with keeping the mean streets of the City (plus the air for that matter) clean.

The hybrid setup is said to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 30% and that's not only down to the hybird system. Oh no sireee. It's got this fancy battery-powered compactor body (independant from the powertrain) that negates the need for a power takeoff. The lithium-ion batteries are then recharged back at base after the shift is done.

We had a close look at the beast at a launch event today in London and we couldn't believe how quiet the vehicle is at low speed. We've had a go in the DAF LF hybrid and while it was an interesting prospect the diesel engine never completely turned off when in battery mode unlike the Volvo.

If you don't believe me, watch the video.

Hybrid tech has been around for a some time now mainly in the passenger car market (see Toyota Prius and Honda Insight), although it hasn't completely caught on in the truck sector, until now.

You've probably never heard of it, but more than likely you've come across it at least once and that's DME or Di-Methyl-Ether. It's a principal ingredient in aerosol cans and now it's being used to power 14 Volvo FHs.

The field test of the trucks is being coordinated through a group of organisations including the Swedish Transport Industry, fuel companies, the EU and the Swedish Energy Agency with the aim assessing Bio-DME its viability as a vehicle fuel.

According to Volvo it "has the potential to replace 50% of today's diesel use in Europe" and what makes it appealing is that it produces 95% less CO2 than regular diesel.

As with any alternative fuel there are drawbacks and the downer-deluxe is that DME has only half the energy content of diesel so large tanks need to be installed. Development of Bio-DME is still in its infancy but it does look promising. Tell us what you think of it...