European Commission sets out strategy to cut emissions from trucks, buses and coaches
Wed 21 May 2014
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Trucks, buses and coaches would use less fuel and emit lower amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) under a strategy just adopted by the European Commission. Such heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) are responsible for around a quarter of CO2 emissions from road transport in the EU. Without action, HDV emissions in 2030-2050 are projected to remain close to current, unsustainable levels.
Connie Hedegaard, Climate Action Commissioner, said, “We first regulated cars and vans, and now we can see the results...That is why we turn now to trucks and buses. This strategy outlines new measures which over time will cut CO2 emissions of these vehicles.”
The LowCVP is currently working in the UK on related work which aims to develop an accreditation scheme for HDV retrofit technology. (See below.)
The EC's strategy focuses on short-term action to certify, report and monitor HDV emissions. This is an essential first step towards curbing emissions, where comparability among HDVs has so far been difficult largely due to the considerable variety of models and sizes of trucks available, which are highly customised to market needs and produced in much smaller quantities than cars and vans.
The Commission has developed a computer simulation tool, VECTO, to measure CO2 emissions from new vehicles. With the support of this tool the Commission intends to bring forward proposals for legislation next year which would require CO2 emissions from new HDVs to be certified, reported and monitored. This will contribute to a more transparent and competitive market and the adoption of the most energy-efficient technologies.
The Commission may consider further measures to curb emissions from HDVs once this legislation is in force such as to set mandatory limits on average CO2 emissions from newly-registered HDVs, as is already done for cars and vans. Other options could include the development of modern infrastructure supporting alternative fuels for HDVs, smarter pricing on infrastructure usage, effective and coherent use of vehicle taxation by Member States and other maker-based mechanisms.
The LowCVP has identified that one of the key opportunities in the UK is to increase the uptake of emission-cutting retrofit technologies in HDVs. In the recent barriers and opportunities report for the LowCVP, it was found that independent verification of the performance of technologies and a credible assessment of the applicability of equipment to different operational environments are needed by the market.
The LowCVP's project, which will run throughout this year, aims to develop an accreditation scheme for retrofit technology to enable equipment manufacturers or vehicle operators to conduct robust, repeatable and reliable tests to validate the impact on fuel consumption under a range of operating conditions. The test and accreditation scheme is to be focused on proving existing technology in a back-to-back comparison under realistic HDV operational scenarios.
Working with the core partners the project will develop the pilot test process and validate these against VECTO cyles. It aims to create the umbrella accreditation process for approving/certifying low carbon technology for HDV applications.
For more information, please follow the associated links.
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