Transport is responsible for nearly 1/3 of carbon dioxide emissions in the European Union. 72% of this value is generated by cars. Is it possible to significantly reduce the emission of road transport in the near future?
The European Union has set a target to reduce CO2 production in transport by 60% compared to 1990 values, already in the middle of this century. Perhaps 2050 seems distant, but 2022 was just as distant when we started talking about moving away from coal in the energy sector. If we don’t act now, in a few years’ time we will wake up unadapted to the new market conditions (not to mention the enormous environmental cost that we will have to bear all the time).
And yet the Polish transport industry is currently worth over PLN 140 billion and produces 6.5% of our GDP! Can we allow such an important branch of the economy to be left behind? The answer is obvious, but what concrete actions can we take today, was the future to be one of the leaders of ecological change in Europe?
THE RAILWAY IS NOT ENOUGH
A few years ago, the answer to environmental challenges in transport was to be multimodal (or intermodal) transport, i.e. shifting loads onto the rails wherever possible. In this assumption, long-distance transport was to be carried out by rail, and the transport of cars was to be responsible for transport to the railway terminal and from the terminal to the destination warehouse, and for subsequent distribution.
Unfortunately, so far it ends with noisy announcements. According to the data of the Office of Rail Transport, the freight turnover in rail freight transport in 2019 amounted to 55,893 million ton-kilometers. In 2000, it was 54,448. Therefore, it can be safely said that at that time the role of railways in the transport of goods did not increase significantly. In the last decade alone, road transport has more than doubled the transport performance, to the level of 461 582 million ton-kilometers! The chances of reversing this trend in the coming years are really only illusory.
WE WILL REDUCE THE EMISSION OF ROAD TRANSPORT
If not rail, then maybe the solution is to decarbonize the trucks? This solution has been implemented for several years by, for example, increasingly restrictive emission standards, and it seems that clear effects are visible. The graph on the website of the European Parliament shows that since 2005 the growth of CO2 emissions from road transport has been significantly halted.
The fundamental problem, however, is that there is still a long way to go from stunting growth to a 60% reduction. The entire transport industry is replacing cars with newer and newer ones, optimizing routes and reducing “empty flights”. However, if we really want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it must be a matter of time before electric trucks are introduced.
We are aware of this, which is why we are launching the Logistech Green Investments project, under which, by 2025, we will launch test routes for electric trucks between logistics nodes in the following regions: Warsaw – Berlin (600 km), Stuttgart-Berlin (650 km), Stuttgart – Zurich (250 km) ) and Stuttgart – Innsbruck (350 km).
We are aware that this is a bold declaration, the implementation of which will require specific actions not only from us, but also from the authorities creating the charging infrastructure and truck manufacturers. Talks with our partners have been going on for several months. We are convinced that we will soon be able to share their effects with you.
Do you want to know more about LTGI? Visit the project website!
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