The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership has identified three main opportunities for cutting emissions from HGVs, all requiring interventions.
It concludes prerequisites are: independent testing to validate the effectiveness of retrofit technology; conversion to the use of natural gas; and supporting uptake of hybrid and pure electric vehicles, particularly for urban environments.
“It’s fantastic to see LowCVP calling on freight operators to contribute to creating a market for low carbon trucks,” comments Laura Hailstone, Freight in the City project manager.
“Freight in the City is focused on enabling urban deliveries to be made as cleanly as possible, but there remains little choice for operators in the market for alternative fuelled commercial vehicles,” she continues.
“Our partnership with LowCVP at the Freight in the City Expo is a welcome step toward opening up a strong dialogue between the freight industry and the low carbon technology providers.”
“In terms of road transport, most of the focus in recent years has been on cutting emissions from cars and buses,” states Andy Eastlake, LowCVP’s managing director.
“Road freight in vans and trucks is responsible for around 35% of the UK’s total road CO2 emissions and there are plenty of opportunities to make a real contribution to the UK’s climate targets – as well as helping to cut costs and contribute to improvements in air quality.”
LowCVP is to hold a stakeholder workshop after the event, late in November, to progress its commercial vehicle activity, including the accreditation scheme for aftermarket technologies.
Eastlake say it will also provide opportunities for operators and others to collaborate in the new, DfT-funded test programme to benchmark vehicles powered by natural gas and biomethane.
One of the key opportunities identified in earlier LowCVP work for cutting carbon from HGVs in the UK was to increase uptake of existing retrofit technology.
However, independent verification of the performance of technologies and a credible assessment of the applicability of equipment to different operational environments were identified as key.
A test process has been developed and is ready for peer review and launch. The next phase will be to develop an accreditation for approving and certifying low carbon technologies for HGVs.
This scheme will also assess the operational characteristics of the technologies, and their applicability, for potential operators.
With the Low Carbon Truck trial nearing its final phase, and the emergence of Euro 6 gas vehicle technology for HGVs, LowCVP is also managing another test programme for the Department for Transport – to benchmark the latest gas trucks for emissions including methane, carbon dioxide (CO2) and NOx, and fuel consumption.