"Biomethane the key option to decarbonise heavy vehicles immediately" says trade body in a new publication
·
Biomethane: Fuelling a Transport Revolution reviews
how the anaerobic digestion and biogas industry can help decarbonise heavier
modes of transport, such as trucks and buses, much sooner than electricity or
hydrogen.
·
The Policy Briefing report by the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association
(ADBA) details the GHG emissions issues facing the UK transport sector and
explores the solutions available for heavy goods and public transport vehicles,
which alone generate 20% of current emissions per year.
·
Rapid deployment of biomethane for HGVs could
reduce GHG emissions by 38% over the next 10 years. Current technological
barriers to powering heavy vehicles with electricity or hydrogen mean these
future fuels could only cut emissions by 6% over the same period.
·
Major fleet operators are already making the transition
to biomethane trucks and buses.
·
Fuelling HGVs with biomethane can cut
well-to-wheel emissions by 80% per km driven and greatly improve air quality.
·
As well as decarbonising transport, biomethane
can boost an entire economic sector, with ROI for hauliers achieved within two
years of operation.
Earlier this month, the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) launched a Policy Briefing report demonstrating the crucial role biomethane could play in decarbonising transport in the UK in the short-term.
In the first of a series of Policy Briefing Events, the trade body presented Biomethane:
Fuelling a Transport Revolution, which analyses the issues facing the
UK transport sector and explores the options presented by electric vehicles, hydrogen
and biomethane.
The research highlights the value of biomethane in providing
a green fuel alternative for heavy good and public transport vehicles -
immediately. Trucks and buses currently generate 20% of the UK's greenhouse gas
emissions from transport, which is itself the highest GHG emitting sector in
the UK (27%).
" Transport is the most polluting sector and
its GHG emissions levels have not changed over the past decade. ",
explains Charlotte Morton, ADBA's Chief Executive. "Biomethane is ready to be produced,
ready to be used, and can decarbonise heavy vehicles transport here and now. At
time when the pollution levels exceed WHO guidelines on 97% of UK roads, we can
not afford to wait 15-20 years for electricity or hydrogen solutions to become
ready."
A 2020 report by Element
Energy shows that rapid deployment of biomethane for HGVs would reduce
emissions by 38% over 10 years, whilst waiting for hydrogen/electric HGVs to be
manufactured would deliver only 6% over the same period.
Biomethane
is particularly appropriate for public transport, long-haul logistics and food
distribution vehicles. Household names and cities such as ASDA, Royal Mail,
Nottingham City Transport and Liverpool City Council are already making the transition for their
delivery fleets and buses.
The
report reveals that fuelling HGVs with biomethane can cut well-to-wheel
emissions by 80% per km driven, compared to diesel, and that the Return On
Investment (ROI) for fleet operators is achieved within two years.
"Using
biomethane as a transport fuel is an immediate “no regrets” option that not
only contributes to significant cuts in GHG emissions from HGVs, but also
stimulates continued growth in the UK biomethane sector." says Philip
Fjeld, CEO of CNG-Fuels. "As the refuelling network expands across the
UK, biomethane as a transport fuel will become a win-win solution that is
available to all hauliers and that continues to reduce the carbon footprint of
a sector that has always been seen as very hard to decarbonise".
With
the launch of the CNHi Biomethane tractor and small scale on-site methanation
units, agriculture could be the next sector to benefit from the availability of
biomethane to reduce its GHG emissions.
The biomethane sector is therefore primed to play an increasingly
crucial role in helping the UK achieve its Net Zero targets by 2030.
DOWNLOAD
THE ADBA POLICY BRIEFING
Biomethane: Fuelling the Transport Revolution
- ENDS -
0 Comments