The recent report from Britain’s National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) is absolutely clear: Our freight sector must be zero emissions by 2050. Meeting this ambition means pollution from transport refrigeration units can no longer be overlooked.
What must the freight sector do to get there? It’s a significant task. Britain’s freight system moves 1.6 billion tonnes of goods, four-fifths of which is by road. It’s a system comprising 195,000 enterprises, employing 2.5 million people, and contributing £121 billion to the economy. Population trends mean demand for freight could grow by 27%-45% over the next 30 years.
Left unaddressed, the already significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the sector will grow too. In fact, in 2017, the single largest contributor to Britain’s GHG emissions was the transport sector, accounting for 27% of all emissions, of which 32% came from road transport- nearly half of this came from HGVs and vans.
Transport sector stepping up
As the NIC’s report highlights, achieving a 2050 net-zero ambition is possible if we are willing to embrace alternatives to diesel. This is where companies like Dearman have a vital contribution to make. Our role has been to develop a groundbreaking liquid nitrogen engine, whose most advanced application is in transport refrigeration units (TRUs). Every diesel TRU emits as much nitrogen oxide as 80 Euro 6 diesel cars, and this makes it essential to encourage the uptake of zero emission alternatives to diesel TRUs.
If we are to meet the Paris Climate Agreement’s target of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5°C, the global transport sector must do better than reducing its GHG emissions by just 2% since 1990. The European Commission plans to step up. It has proposed mandatory targets to reduce carbon emissions from HGVs by 15% by 2025 and 30% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels. But as the NIC’s report says, “it is only by removing diesel entirely that it will be possible to achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse gases”.
Government’s role in supporting alternatives
A range of solutions are being promoted as alternatives to diesel; synthetic diesel, biofuels, e-highways, battery electric, hydrogen fuel cells, and of course we have Dearman’s liquid nitrogen technology too. In addition to encouraging the advent of these alternative fuels, developing infrastructure will be key to their uptake. How will the distribution of clean fuels and refuelling infrastructure look? Where will there be gaps that require government to subsidise and support fuelling infrastructure? What can government and industry do to drive down costs of zero emission options so that they are cheaper than diesel incumbents? This final point will certainly require ministers to scale back their diesel subsidies that large HGVs are currently allowed to use for secondary auxiliary engines. Subsidies that artificially undercut clean alternatives already available on the market.
The NIC’s report concludes by recommending that “government should commit to decarbonising road freight by 2050, announcing plans by the end of 2021 to ban the sale of new diesel powered HGVs no later than 2040”. It’s a welcome recommendation and sends a clear signal that an increasingly tough climate for diesel looks set to get tougher still. Fleet operators need to get head of the curve and start planning now for the inevitable switch to cleaner technologies. Fortunately for them, companies like Dearman have shown that we can deliver major emission savings, and once again, we stand ready to help.
SOURCE: Dearman
