ACEA

What has the commercial vehicle industry achieved for the environment?

A dramatic drop in air pollutants

• Latest Euro V models produce around a tenth of the emissions of a 1980s equivalent
• Truck NOx emissions have been cut by 86% compared to levels in the 1990s
• Particulate emissions are down by 95%
• In Europe, the result has been an overall 35% reduction in particulate matter from trucks, despite a 30% increase in ‘work done’ or freight transport measured in tonnekilometres

A 30% hike in fuel efficiency since the 1970s

• Thanks to technologies like common rail injection, automated gearboxes, turbo charging and intercooling
• Per tonne transported, this corresponds to a fuel consumption of just one litre of diesel per 100 tonnekm, with significant CO2 savings
• Today’s buses are also leading the way with average fuel consumption per bus-passenger that can challenge the performance of many a trip per train

Hybrid technology in all manufacturers’ portfolios

• Lowering fuel consumption by between 15 and 25%, depending on the type and distance of transport involved and the number of stops by the vehicle

Dedicated vehicle models for a variety of alternative fuels

• Such as compressed natural gas (CNG), bio-ethanol, renewable diesel produced from vegetable oils (HVO), synthetic diesel produced from biowaste (biomass-to-liquid) and natural gas (gas-to-liquid)

Investments in hydrogen fuel cells

• Combining compressed hydrogen with air in a chemical reaction in a fuel cell that creates electricity
• This powers the vehicle and produces only water vapour from the tailpipe
• Since the introduction of the first vehicle in 1997, fuel cell bus trials have taken place across the globe
• Still, much more study is needed into hydrogen production, storage and distribution before this advanced technology is ready for a large-scale use

Investments in telematics and sophisticated vehicle monitoring systems

• to help road operators dramatically cut the number of journeys made by trucks running empty

Investments in vehicle-operating technologies and training

• for vehicle body producers and transportation companies to allow them to realise their vehicles full potential at lowest costs to the environment
• Technology fields include tyre rolling resistance, aerodynamics and driver training

Road can do better than rail

The commonly held belief that a shift of transport modes is always beneficial, is wrong. For many commodities transported, the use of road transport can even result in lower CO2 emissions than the use of other modes

• A 2007 study on emissions from food transport found that over short distances, trucks achieved the lowest CO2 emissions per kilogramme food transported, followed by electric trains and inland sea vessels
• Where transport in bulk is possible, sea vessels were found to be the most efficient, followed by trucks and electric freight trains
• On longer distances, trucks beat all other transport modes, even where transport in bulk is available

last updated 01/09/2009

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