The announcement, a short time ago, regarding the injection of £200m of Government funding to launch the world’s largest fleet of zero emission HGVs to the UK roads, is another significant step on the road to net zero for the transport sector.

Announced at Logistics UK’s Future Logistics Conference, Transport Minister Trudy Harrison outlined the details of the proposal which included:

• over £200 million invested to launch world’s largest fleet of zero emission heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), accelerating plans to decarbonise road freight
• plans to eliminate fossil fuels from HGV haulage will help to reduce delivery costs and protect consumers from rising fuel prices in the long term
• new plans support government’s world-leading pledges made at COP26, ensuring all new HGVs sold in the UK will be zero emission by 2040

Carlos Vicente, Aftermarket and Retrofit Sales Director at Eminox offers his comments on how the ambitious targets translate into real world terms.

How could it be achieved?

It is admirable to see our Government being so visionary in their net zero targets. To see them stating that ‘all new HGVs sold in the UK will be zero emission by 2040’ is a bold statement to make given the challenges around electric power, hybridisation, and alternative fuels.

In July of last year, the latest vehicle licensing statistics demonstrated that at the end of 2020 there were around 485,900 HGVs licensed in Great Britain. So, whilst in 2040 there may well be only net zero new vehicles sold, what of the residual vehicles that are still on our roads? Those that are powered by diesel, hybrid, or alternative fuels, many of which still generate emissions of some kind.

What is being done and what can be done in the future to ensure fleets operate with as low emissions as possible?