Significant harm will be caused to the haulage industry if the government does not accept biomethane as a transitionary fuel after the deadline on diesel engines, CNG Services has warned.
It said some flexibility was required if the UK was to succeed in moving towards a zero-emission future and bio-CNG and bio-LNG fuels were needed to enable logistics operators to achieve this.
In its response to the department for transport’s (DfT) consultation on an HGV CO2 emissions regulatory framework, CNG Fuels said that it was time to look again at the use of biomethane post 2040 and allow manufacturers to retain gas engines for renewable methane rather than fossil gas.
John Baldwin, MD at the CNG consultancy and construction firm, said the direction of travel towards 100% electric lorries was appropriate for the UK, given its offshore wind resources and decarbonisation strategy.
“However, the 2040 date will cause significant harm to the haulage sector without delivering as much GHG saving as is possible by accepting biomethane as a transitionary molecule that helps the 44 tonne sector and special vehicles,” he added.
Baldwin said companies needed confidence in their fuelling solution given it was a low margin business with a high need for reliability.
He said hauliers were investing in biomethane trucks, but it had taken 25 years to reach this point: “It is not clear that it is feasible for electricity and hydrogen vehicles to have 100% market share in new sales by 2040, which is less than two vehicle lives away,” he pointed out.
“While potentially reducing emissions post 2040, a ban on the sale of bio-CNG and bio-LNG HGVs risks a reduction in take up before 2040, losing the benefits of reduced emissions in the period to 2040.”
Logistics UK also used the recent consultation to raise concerns over the lack of detail about how charging infrastructure would be delivered and it criticised the decision to exclude low-carbon fuels as a transitional option.
“The period to 2040 is a transitional phase, not the end state, and low-carbon fuels have an important role to play while zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure scale up,” said Lamech Solomon, head of decarbonisation at Logistics UK.
The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) warned that manufacturers and dealers should not be put under pressure to sell expensive electric lorries when there was currently limited demand and sparse charging infrastructure: “Purchasing decisions are driven by price, reliability, and long-term business viability,” said NFDA CE Sue Robinson.
The DfT said it was analysing feedback to the consultation, which ended on 17 March.
