How can commercial road transport get to net-zero emissions?
The industry has committed to become carbon neutral by 2050.
The question is: What is the best, least disruptive and most cost-effective approach to reach net-zero emissions?
Road transport has a huge diversity of truck, bus and coach services across multiple geographies and distances, meeting an array of user, business and community needs. Many solutions are required to cut CO2 emissions across the sector.
The IRU Green Compact’s study on the sector in Europe found that to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the industry and governments need to deliver on two types of actions at the same time: energy efficiency measures and alternative fuels implementation.
Available and proven efficiency measures alone are estimated to account for 51% of CO2 emission reductions by 2050.
Across all transport types and powertrain technologies, efficiency gains build on the sector’s current best practices, using proven technologies and solutions that avoid disrupting essential transport services.
Efficient measures cover logistics (e.g. retiming, platooning and eco-trucks), vehicles (e.g. tyres, lightweighting and waste heat recovery), and drivers (e.g. certified eco-driving training, skills profiling and driver efficiency monitoring).
The second level of action is focused on building a robust, practical and economic transition to alternative fuels.
This requires investing in fossil-free alternative fuels, including electricity, hydrogen and biofuels, as well as the public and private infrastructure, vehicles and operational practices necessary to use them.
A mix of different zero- and low-carbon fuel solutions must be available for operators to choose the right technology, including biofuels, biogas and e-fuels as well as electricity and hydrogen, for the right transport needs.
Learn more about the IRU Green Compact’s roadmap for a carbon-neutral commercial road transport industry by 2050.