Provisional results of the Department for Transport's Low Carbon Truck Trial have been published, showing that gas HGVs are cutting carbon by up to 9%.
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) welcomes the findings, saying they provide "crucial feedback" on this type of vehicle.
According to the report, 175 trucks were already in use by January 2014 as part of the two-year trial, most of which are dual-fuel gas and diesel tractor units.
The average gas substitution ratio to date has been 46% for dual-fuel vehicles, with carbon savings of up to 9%. These figures are expected to rise as the refuelling infrastructure becomes more widespread.
"The report provides crucial early feedback from the Low Carbon Truck Trial and identifies the operational challenges of running gas HGVs," says Rachael Dillon, FTA's climate change policy manager.
"We hope that the trial can kickstart the market and look forward to seeing further results."
Government is providing £11.3 million towards a £23m demonstration project to pump prime procurement of low emission HGV technologies and supporting infrastructure.
Thirteen projects will result in 354 trucks using alternative fuels: 237 will use liquefied natural gas (LNG); 107 will use compressed natural gas (CNG); and 10 will operate on used cooking oil (UCO).
A total of 18 new refuelling stations is planned through the trial.
For the DfT report, click the link below.
