The Freight Transport Association (FTA) says it welcomes the government’s announcement of a £20 million feasibility study into the options for the creation of next generation HGV fuels from rubbish.
It said the move would help the industry to further lower its carbon emissions in an industry where big change had already been achieved. In its announcement earlier this week the Department for Transport said its new fund could help it to deliver up to five new low carbon fuel plants by 2021 and said the money was available to projects that would produce low carbon waste-based fuels to be used in planes and lorries where a switch to electric power because of their large weight. Planes and lorries powered by waste fuels could use up to 90% less carbon than traditional fossil fuels the DfT said.
FTA’s head of national regional policy Christopher Snelling said: “Huge strides have been made on air quality emissions from lorries in the past few years. HGVs sold since 2014 emit 80% less local air pollutants on the road than their predecessors, but the industry needs something new to achieve similar reductions on greenhouse gases,” he said.
Snelling said the retail industry’s huge reliance on road meant that change was needed. “Road transport is the main means of delivering goods across the UK with 80% of the UK’s goods moving by road. Even if we maximise use of rail and water it will remain the dominant mode of freight so we have to improve road freight, and “rubbish” initiatives like this may indeed be the way forward.”
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