Analysis: To decarbonise road freight transport, researchers have been working on decoupling the link of economic growth to logistics emissions through operational efficiency and technology.

By Sabrina Zhang, TU Dublin and Dr. Eoin Plant, Edinburgh Napier University

Ireland is a small trade-dependent economy on the western fringes of Europe. We rely on effective logistic and freight transport systems to support our economic activity in Europe and across the world. The movement of goods has of late started to move into the limelight and register on the public's radar.

Supply chain and logistics moved to centre stage during Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown with shortages of our daily necessities, Covid vaccine supplies and distribution, the recent Suez Canal blockage, and the enormous increase in e-commerce during the past year.

Since the first lockdown in March 2020, we have seen significant drop of passenger numbers on public transport in Ireland. Meanwhile, the logistics and freight transport sector has never been more challenging, to keep our supply chain agile and adaptive in times of disruption.

As the backbone of the economic growth, the logistics industry, especially road haulage sector, has long been scrutinised when it comes to decarbonisation.

The transport sector (including public transport, private cars, and freight) in Ireland is the second-largest contributor to carbon emissions that are not currently included in European Union Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). The road haulage sector, including both light and heavy goods vehicles, accounts for over 27% of total transport emissions

According to SEAI, among all road freight activities, delivery of goods to wholesalers and retail outlets was the largest source of freight energy demand in Ireland, followed by import and export of goods, as measured by tonne-kilometres.

To tackle climate change, EU countries have agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the non-ETS sector in each country. In March 2021, the Irish Government passed the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill to develop a climate-resilient economy and achieve carbon neutral by 2050.

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From Radio 1's Morning Ireland, Eamon Ryan, Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, on the Government's Climate Bill as well as the two-day world leaders climate summit, which begins later today.

This Bill has no doubt set up very challenging targets for Ireland, especially for the road haulage sector. The Department of Transport indicated that the carbon emissions from heavy goods vehicles needs to be reduced by 15% by 2025, and 30% by 2030 relative to average emissions over the period from July 2019 to June 2020.

To decarbonise road freight transport, researchers have been working on decoupling the link of economic growth to logistics emissions through operational efficiency and technology. Much of the logistics clean vehicle technology is still in its infancy such as electric vehicles for long-haul freight transport, bio-methane gas-run vehicles, and hydrogen.

A recent study in the US compares the potential cost saving of electric trucks with diesel trucks; the finding suggests that an electric truck with 375-mile range can offer about 13% lower total cost of ownership per mile than a diesel truck, about 3-year payback and net present savings of about US$200,000 over a 15-year lifetime.

Again, almost any of these clean technologies will require significant upfront investment costs for both vehicles and infrastructure for charging or fuelling. Otherwise the scalability won’t be achieved to harness the true potential of carbon-friendly vehicles.

This year has seen some substantial developments in the policy towards the Irish road haulage sector. Following the Low Emissions Vehicle Toll Incentive Scheme, the government has recently announced the Alternatively-Fuelled Heavy Duty Vehicle Purchase Grant Scheme for road freight operators.

Considering Ireland’s almost 40,000 heavy goods vehicles are diesel-fuelled and 45% of which are over ten years old, this has the potential to stimulate uptake of cleaner vehicles.

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From Morning Ireland, Adam Maguire reports on what more can be done to make motorists go electric.

More recently in April 2021, the Department of Transport in Ireland also launched a public consultation on a Ten-Year Strategy for the Haulage Sector focusing on gathering public input on cleaner transport, safety and infrastructure (concluding 2nd July 2021), which signposts a more strategic focus for the long overdue haulage sector developments.

So, are we on the road to sustainable freight transport in Ireland?

The answer is yes - we have embarked on this 'Road to Zero’. However, there is a substantial hill to climb to achieve carbon neutral as a society by 2050. There are a few key action and discussion points required for the haulage sector in Ireland, with the following measures generated from our recent study from the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

1) Clean vehicle technologies such as battery-electric vehicle, bio-gas or hydrogen fuelled vehicles demonstrate promising projections to mitigate carbon emissions. Yet these technologies for long-haul freight transport still need further maturing and scalability to offer at a commercially viable price for road freight operators.

2) Sustainable urban freight measures such as ‘cargo bikes’ have been considered with great positive impact on the last-mile delivery. However, a proper bikeway network design is needed in urban areas to ensure road safety for pedestrians and cyclists in our cities.

3) Reviving rail freight in Ireland could potentially shift some of the road freight volume to the more environmental-friendly rail mode. Paradoxically, rail freight in Ireland is facing great challenges to grow and has dropped to one of the lowest levels in terms of modal share among other EU states.

The cost-efficiency and viability of the modal shift in the Irish context is still debatable. Factors such as infrastructure investment, freight quantity, density, and distance travelled need to be considered.

4) Soft policy measures towards green technology adoption and sustainability education should include wider audiences, thus to encourage positive behavioural change and foster collaboration among actors along the supply chain.

Sabrina Zhang is a PhD candidate at the School of Transport Engineering Environment and Planning at TU Dublin. Her current doctoral research focuses on sustainable urban logistics. Dr. Eoin Plant is Associate Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management at Edinburgh Napier University and the Chair of CILT (Ireland) Policy Committee.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ