CO2 strategy for heavy vehicles to step up a gear

The European Commission has released its strategy for low-emission mobility, which it says represents an essential aspect of Europe’s ability to stay competitive in the years ahead, and cater to the transport needs of both people and goods.

The document includes a post-2020 strategy for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) – namely, lorries, buses and coaches – which the EC says currently account for around 25 per cent of road transport carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and are projected to increase by up to 10 per cent between 2010 and 2030.

“While lorries, buses and coaches have been subject to similar air pollution standards as cars and vans, and are now required to meet them under real driving conditions, the EU has neither fuel efficiency standards for them, nor a carbon dioxide monitoring scheme as in the case of cars and vans,” said the Commission in its strategy document.

“As a first step, the Commission is working on two proposals: one on the certification of carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption of these vehicles, and one on the monitoring and reporting of such certified data.

“These measures will increase transparency and will also facilitate differentiation in road user charging.”

However, the EC said that the EU would also need to introduce measures to actively curb carbon emissions from heavy vehicles.

“Other parts of the world, such as the United States, China, Japan and Canada, have already introduced standards, and some European manufacturers participate in these schemes,” said the Commission.

“Europe cannot lag behind. Lower running costs for transport of goods, more fuel efficient vehicles will benefit the entire economy and ultimately, the consumers and passengers. The secondary market will spread the benefits to small and medium-sized hauliers.”

To this end, the Commission says that it will accelerate its analysis of options for carbon dioxide emission standards for heavy vehicles, which will include a public consultation.

“Given the average lifetime of a lorry of about 10 years, vehicles sold in 2020 will still be on European roads in 2030,” it said.

“In its analysis, the Commission will make full use of all available data, including the simulation tool developed in close collaboration with stakeholders.”

The potential for the introduction of low or zero-emission technologies differed among heavy vehicle subcategories, the Commission pointed out – identifying buses in particular as a category in which faster progress may be possible.

“For some categories – such as city buses – early adoption of zero emission technologies seems in reach, and a separate zero-emission target should be explored.

“Public procurement is a powerful instrument to create markets for innovative products and it should be used to support take up of such vehicles.

“Since a significant part of public procurement is undertaken by municipal and local authorities, there is particular potential for public transport vehicles, such as buses, using low-emission alternative energies.

“To make such public procurement even more effective, the Commission is currently working on the revision of the Clean Vehicles Directive, which introduced sustainability obligations into public procurement in the EU.

“The options that are currently being assessed include broadening of the scope, more robust compliance requirements and procurement targets.”

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) called the EC strategy “a step in the right direction”, but also identified two areas which it said “were not sufficiently emphasised”.

Pauline Bastidon, FTA head of European policy, said: “The Commission needs to ensure that financial instruments providing guarantees to private investors are not the only source of funding available for the take-up of new technologies, and we would also like to see changes to vehicle weights and dimensions considered as a fundamental measure to reduce carbon emissions.

“FTA is supportive of any information regarding the carbon performance of commercial vehicles, but any measure has to take into account how much the vehicle can carry.”

FTA also praised initiatives aimed at increasing the interoperability of electronic tolling systems across the EU, which it said would “reduce costs and administrative burden for end users”.

Meanwhile the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has issued a call for partners to participate in a new data analysis project in its HDV transport programme to inform the work it is undertaking on fuel efficiency.

The institute points out that the route, speed, freight load and vehicle configuration of HDVs can all have an impact on which fuel efficiency technologies are the most effective in helping to reducing carbon emissions when compared to current HDV production vehicles – and the new project aims to improve knowledge about real world usage and performance of on-highway HDVs through vehicle data analysis.

Matthew Joss, ETI  transport strategy analyst, said:  “If the real world data is not interpreted correctly and properly understood it can hinder decisions which could mean technology improvements do not work as effectively as they should, potentially adding additional costs.

“There is a significant opportunity to capture and process real world data as many on-highway fleet operators currently install telematics systems to their vehicles to gain insights into driver behaviour and fuel economy.

“By characterising information such as drag coefficient, rolling resistance and tyre pressures, and including data on how vehicles are driven, we will be able to make the technologies we are developing more effective and of more value to the industry.”

The results of the project will inform decisions about technology for new trucks, as well as retrofit solutions, ETI says, with a view to enabling  “substantial reductions in CO2 emissions across the HDV sector”.

Interested parties can find the ETI Request for Proposals here.