A new report by Zemo Partnership for the Welsh Government sets out the policy options to decarbonise Wales’ commercial vehicle sector.
The report lists 60 ‘specific objectives’ that require policy actions to achieve them, identifying those with primary responsibility, and the timeframe recommended for implementation.
Road freight and logistics are the life-blood of commerce and trade but represent 34% of the country’s total surface transport emissions, which is a significantly higher proportion of total surface transport GHG emissions than for the UK as a whole.
While significant progress has already been made in decarbonising vehicles in the UK, the freight sector has seen slower progress, and remains more challenging. Zemo’s report recommends a package of measures which would save 8.4MtCO2e by 2050 and be highly cost effective with a benefit-to-cost ratio of 5.9.
The proposals would also unlock significant operating cost benefits for the commercial vehicle sector in Wales over the period to 2050, with each pound invested unlocking almost eight pounds of benefit to industry in terms of fuel costs. Cumulatively, this could amount to a £2.1 billion reduction in fuel costs to CV operators over the period to 2050.
Working in consultation with industry and government stakeholders, Zemo has identified a range of ‘no regrets’ actions that can be taken by the Welsh Government. Electrification will be the main long-term pathway to decarbonising the commercial vehicle sector in Wales, it said, but other pathways should – and can – be adopted in parallel.
Low carbon fuels provide a near-term opportunity to decarbonise vehicles in hard-to-electrify applications. There may be opportunities of a role for hydrogen by the late 2030s too, and re-powering vehicles to zero tailpipe emissions can also be an option in special use cases.
The report notes that Wales has already taken positive steps to facilitate transport electrification through the development of Local Area Energy Plans (LAEPs) which enable holistic transport and energy planning.
Robin Beckmann, Head of Transport, Environment and Decarbonisation, Welsh Government, said:
”Cutting carbon emissions from the freight sector is a key challenge for Wales; heavy goods vehicles, in particular, are hard to decarbonise and freight overall represents a very significant proportion of total emissions in the country.”
Zemo Partnership’s Director of Policy and the Wales project lead, Jonathan Murray, said:
“The Welsh Government has been correct in identifying the CV sector as critical to decarbonising road transport in Wales.
“Freight is vital to the country’s economy. The good news is that if we get this transition right, there will be benefits to Wales’ economy, to operators’ bottom-lines and to the local and global environment.”
Image of report courtesy of Zemo Partnership
