Jul 26 2024
Agnostic: the future of alternative fuels in road transport
Which alternative fuel options are available right now? How do we foster a more diverse portfolio of solutions? How can vehicle manufacturers help?
The IRU Green Compact’s “dual approach” to decarbonising road transport leverages both efficiency measures and alternative fuels.
Efficiency measures cover logistics (retiming, route optimisation and eco-trucks), vehicles (tyres, lightweighting and advanced lubrication), and drivers (eco-driving, skills monitoring and certification schemes).
The second level of action focuses on building a robust, practical and economic transition to alternative fuels. This means investing now in fossil-free alternative fuels, including electricity, hydrogen and biofuels, as well as the public and private infrastructure, vehicles and operational practices needed to use them.
We asked Hexagon Agility, a leading manufacturer of fuel solutions for commercial vehicles and gas transport, about the available options and how to build on them.
What are the biggest decarbonisation challenges facing Europe?
The road transport sector has committed to become fully carbon neutral by 2050, in line with national and international targets. But European fleet operations vary greatly – by country, application, technology and infrastructure.
A key challenge today is the current EU regulatory framework that exclusively promotes zero-emission tailpipe vehicles. This framework limits operators’ choices to a single technology that might not be scalable, available or usable for a given application.
This leads to uncertainty among transport operators and vehicle manufacturers when evaluating the switch to alternative fuels, ultimately leading to delays in effective decarbonisation measures.
We believe that regulation promoting competition in the technology marketplace, allowing for a mix of fuel solutions rather than a single source, would accelerate decarbonisation efforts. Read more
Source: IRU