CV industry faces tough CO2 challenge

By Categories: NewsPublished On: Tuesday 28 October 2014

euroflagsThe European Union has set targets for its member nations to increase the use of renewable energy, and increase energy efficiency by 27 per cent by 2030.

This announcement throws further focus on the issue of CO2 emissions from trucks, which has hitherto not been covered specifically by European emissions standards, and confirms statements made by truck manufacturers’ CEOs at the IAA Show in Germany this Autumn (Transport Operator, October) where they confirmed a target of reaching a 20 per cent reduction in CO2 by 2020. A reduction of 3.5 per cent per year would be needed to achieve this.

Earlier this year, the European Commission re-leased plans to cut carbon emissions from trucks, buses and coaches by enforcing certification, reporting and monitoring of CO2 emissions from newly-registered vehicles. It intends to bring legislative proposals forward in 2015 (Transport Operator, June).

Realising the reduction would require cooperation between all stakeholders: vehicle, trailer, bodywork and tyre manufacturers, fuel companies, legislators, transport users and vehicle operators.

A six per cent reduction could come from improving vehicle and tyre designs, a 2.5 per cent reduction from substituting renewable fuels for diesel, and a 13 per cent reduction from improved driver training, greater consolidation of loads, allowing larger vehicles and replacing older vehicles with more modern ones.

Helping operators and their customers to choose the most appropriate solution is a very complex task, Wolfgang Bernhard, head of Daimler Trucks and chairman of the commercial vehicle board of European motor industry body ACEA, told journalists at the IAA Show.

The relatively crude models of CO2 grammes per km used to classify passenger cars and light commercials were inappropriate for heavy trucks, where gross weights ranged from 3.5 to 76 tonnes and a diverse range of bodies and trailers were available: many tailored to specific tasks.

ACEA was working with the EU to produce VECTO (Vehicle Energy Consumption Calculation Tool) with help from the Technical University of Gaz.

VECTO uses 10 different ‘mission profiles’ based primarily on distance, which will enable fleet operators to see how specific truck models and trailer types are likely to perform in terms of fuel consumed and CO2 generated in grammes per tonne (or for bus and coach operators, passenger) km, and the average speed in the cycle used. The major contributors to efficiency are air drag and engine management.

ACEA continues to press for longer trucks, arguing that extra loadspace is the key to reducing the total number of road transport journeys, and thus CO2 emissions per tonne carried.

It cites the European Modular System experiment which showed that 12 rigid truck/bogie semi-trailer combinations could carry the same quantity of goods as 18 conventional 40-tonne artics.