The transport sector needs to become greener, but the transition to zero emission trucks is difficult: some logistical constraints create barriers to conversion and trucks, together with buses, account for 6% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Europe. Both the government and the European Commission therefore have ambitious targets to rapidly reduce emissions in this sector.
In February, European Commissioner Frans Timmermans proposed reducing emissions from new trucks by 45% by 2030. By 2040, this should be as high as 90% and last month Parliament and the European Commission reached an agreement on a minimum number of loading spaces and hydrogen tanks for trucks.
By 2028, there must be a charging point for electric trucks along half of major highways at least every 120 kilometres. In the Netherlands, at least twenty-five cities will introduce zero-emission zones from 2025: in practice, trucks must supply cities completely emission-free.
The ambitions are therefore great, but the transition is not making any progress for the transport companies. Of the 146,000 trucks on the road in the Netherlands, only 408 were electric in February this year. 27 trucks ran on hydrogen.
Research institute TNO believes that other ways to make freight traffic more sustainable should also be considered. “You also need to look at options like hydrogen and synthetic fuels,” says researcher Rob Cuelenaere. “Eventually we will most likely end up with a mix, of which electric driving will be a large part.”