Carbon cuts from HGVs 'could be doubled' if all stakeholders join forces - industry

Tue 23 September 2014 View all news

Following the publication of a new report, European truck manufacturers have laid out recommendations for cutting CO2 emissions. CEOs of leading manufacturers confirmed at a press summit that they are on track with their ‘Vision 20-20’ to reduce fuel consumption from new vehicles by 20% over the period 2005-2020, or at an annual rate of 1.3%.
 
Their claim was backed-up by a study conducted by the independent research institute, Transport & Mobility Leuven (TML) from Belgium.
 
The industry now advocates a far more ambitious future approach to CO2 reductions including the adoption of a wide range of new emission-reducing technologies.
 
Wolfgang Bernhard, CEO of Daimler Trucks and Chair of ACEA’s Commercial Vehicle Board said: “There is much more than new vehicles alone that determine CO2 emissions. Trailer designs, alternative fuels, transport operations and infrastructure also play a decisive role.
 
"All relevant stakeholders should be mobilised to work on a fully integrated approach to CO2 reduction in Europe’s transport industry.”
 
The industry says that the new TML study quantifies for the first time the potential of such an integrated approach for the period 2014-2020. It sees the potential for different technologies as follows:
  • 6% reduction for vehicle-related measures across the entire fleet
  • 2.5% reduction through alternative fuels
  • 13% reduction through operations.
This translates into a more than 20% cut in CO2 emissions from the road transport sector over the next six years, or an annual reduction rate of 3.5%.
 
Mr Bernhard added that: “This means that if we move from a ‘new vehicle only’ approach to a fully integrated approach, we could more than double the annual CO2 reduction rate from our industry, going from 1.3% to an average of 3.5%, “This is the best way to unlock our full potential to reduce CO2 emissions on Europe’s streets.” 
 
A 2012 report by Ricardo-AEA for the LowCVP found that large CO2 emissions savings from the truck sector could be realised through fuel switching - to gaseous fuels and electricity - plus the introduction of low rolling resistance tyres, various measures to cut aerodynamic drag and other opportunities.

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