The Federal Coalition’s proposed Emissions Reduction Fund could help trucking operators buy new, fuel-efficient vehicles, the chairman of the Australian Trucking Association, Trevor Martyn, said.
The Coalition announced today that it would, if elected, invest in direct CO2 emission reduction activities through its Emissions Reduction Fund. Companies that reduced their emissions below their business-as-usual level would be able to offer to sell their extra CO2 abatement to the Government.
Mr Martyn said the fund could give trucking operators an incentive to replace their older trucks.
“With the right incentives, trucking companies can achieve large improvements in fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions by renewing their fleets. For example, the latest model Volvo trucks use about 30 per cent less fuel than trucks built in the late 1980s,” Mr Martyn said.
“The fund could also give more companies the opportunity to switch to alternative fuels, such as LNG. Kenworth’s LNG series of prime movers can deliver a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of more than 20 per cent compared to conventional diesel engines, without sacrificing power or torque output.”
Mr Martyn said the trucking industry would be able to achieve even deeper greenhouse gas reductions with regulatory reforms to enable operators to use longer, safer trucks on major highways.
“In particular, we could achieve large reductions by using B-triples on more routes such as Melbourne to Adelaide via the Great Western and Dukes highways, Melbourne to Brisbane via the Newell Highway, and on the Hume Highway once it is fully duplicated.
“A B-triple has three close-coupled trailers rather than one or two. Two B-triples can do the work of three B-doubles or five semi-trailers.
“In 2007, the National Transport Commission found that a national linehaul trucking operator with 60 B-doubles and semi-trailers could use B-triples to reduce the number of trips by one in four, reduce operating costs by 22 per cent and save 3.7 million kilometres of truck travel per year.
“As a result, this single linehaul operator could reduce its fuel consumption by more than 2 million litres of diesel per year and reduce its direct greenhouse gas emissions by more than 5,900 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year,” Mr Martyn said.