The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) has been chosen to manage a new test programme to benchmark the latest gas trucks for emissions, including methane, CO2 and fuel consumption.
Work will complement the operator on-road tests being carried out during the government’s Low Carbon Truck (LCTT), which is nearing its final phase, and will also explore the rapid emergence of gas-technology for Euro-6 HGVs.
The project will accurately compare the gas vehicles (both OEM and retrofit conversions) with their direct diesel counterparts in a consistent manner using the latest PEMS equipment run over repeatable track cycles.
Test processes will follow the LowCVP member-developed accreditation method for low carbon truck technology, building on the recently published Ricardo report, which assessed test protocols for monitoring methane slip, a particular concern for methane-powered vehicles and a potential major contribution to their greenhouse gas impact.
Andy Eastlake, LowCVP MD, said "Biomethane is rapidly rising up the agenda as a major potential contributor to HGV fleet decarbonisation, but the evidence base is confused and vehicle technology (particularly with Euro-6) has developed extremely rapidly in the last couple of years as the LCTT has run.
"This project - supported by the LowCVP membership - will enable us to create a robust evidence-base both for government and operators, to really establish the case behind a ‘dash for (bio)gas!’,” he added.
LowCVP members will be invited to support the project, which will provide a vital piece of the comprehensive evidence-base needed on gas use in HGVs to provide a basis for the formation of long-term government policy options in this sector.
For more information, please contact Andy Eastlake via the LowCVP Secretariat.
- Eastlake will be speaking at the Freight in the City Expo on 27 October at London’s Alexandra Palace about what the new clean air targets from DEFRA will mean for the commercial vehicle industry. Register now to attend this one-day, free-to-attend expo bringing together experts in the field of urban logistics.
