freight transport sector is often singled out for its heavy greenhouse gas emissions. The various laws governing the ecological transition make reducing the carbon footprint of trucks a strategic issue. It is time to take stock of the situation and the solutions that exist.
What is carbon footprint?
The carbon footprint is an indicator that makes it possible to evaluate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It can be calculated at different scales: a person, a State, or even a particular sector of activity. The carbon footprint is expressed in C02e , that is to say in carbon dioxide equivalent . This choice makes the result more easily understandable. Concretely, when we calculate a carbon footprint, we evaluate the quantity emitted for each type of GHG, then we calculate how many tonnes of CO2 this is equivalent to. In the current context of ecological transition, the carbon footprint of all professional sectors is carefully evaluated, road transport is no exception.
What is the carbon footprint of road transport?
The latest INSEE report on the carbon footprint of the different sectors of activity in France indicates that road transport emits 119.6 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Which places it as the sector with the highest carbon footprint While this figure may seem impressive, it should be put into perspective with the fact that the need for freight transport is continually increasing every year. This increase in activity therefore explains the poor carbon footprint of road transport, which for lack of effective alternatives has until today done its best to limit its polluting emissions.
However, we can note that operators are taking stock of the problem and seeking to implement solutions. A majority of transport companies have chosen to modify their truck fleet to invest in more recent vehicles and trucks of 26 tonnes or more, which are less polluting. Operators are also raising awareness among their drivers of this issue and implementing eco- driving . All these efforts have enabled road transport to reduce its polluting emissions since they were 130.7 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2016, a reduction of 11 tonnes in the space of 6 years. Despite the good will and efforts of operators/transporters, the carbon footprint of freight transport is still heavy and we will see that its reduction is no longer just an ecological necessity.
The SCEQUE: a future carbon tax for road transport
The European Union has set the objective of reducing polluting emissions by at least 55% in 2023. To put this desire for ecological transition into practice, the “polluter pays” principle is a tool it uses. regularly. It consists of financially penalizing companies in a sector considered too polluting in order to encourage them to adopt more virtuous practices. It is exactly in this spirit that the extension of the SCEQUE to road transport currently under discussion within European bodies is in line.
The ECS is none other than the Community Emissions Trading System . This system acts like a carbon tax . To put it simply, this amounts to applying a price to CO2 emissions from the sector concerned. If the project is definitively adopted, freight transport companies will have to calculate their CO2 emissions as accurately as possible to know how much they will have to pay. Purchasing fuel will become more expensive, as is already the case today. Reducing the carbon footprint of transport is therefore no longer simply a question of ecology. This is a financial issue for the balance of the sector, because the application of the SCEQUE will generate additional operating costs.
How to calculate the CO2 emissions of a heavy goods vehicle?
As we have just seen, calculating the CO2 emissions of a heavy goods vehicle is an important financial issue. To help road operators in this task, there are several measurement tools. The first of these is the methodology defined by ADEME ( the Environment and Energy Management Agency). This organization has developed a method for calculating the balance of greenhouse gas emissions which is a benchmark in terms of measuring ecological impact. The ADEME carbon base considers that 1 liter of diesel = 3.16 kgco2e. To know the CO2 emissions of a heavy goods vehicle, it is therefore necessary to make the ratio between the consumption of the truck according to the weight transported and this figure.
To help transport companies easily calculate their carbon footprint, there are also TMS (transport management systems) which can automate the operation to make it less tedious. Unfortunately, even if these tools represent an advance which will make it possible to better estimate the amount of possible taxation, they still remain too imprecise. To avoid increasing the operating costs of their business, carriers must therefore turn to other solutions to actively act on reducing their carbon footprint .
Solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of your trucks
There are solutions to reduce the carbon footprint inherent in trucks that operators can implement and best initiate the essential ecological transition.
Eco-driving
Reducing the GHG production of a transport company means reducing that of its vehicles. The first solution to directly reduce truck consumption is to practice eco-driving. Eco -driving meets certain principles and good practices such as ensuring regular maintenance of your freight truck fleet, particularly tire pressure. Properly inflated tires reduce fuel usage by 4%. The driver must drive at a constant speed , avoiding sudden accelerations and decelerations as much as possible. Heating and air conditioning should be used sparingly. When they are, the passenger compartment windows must remain closed. These training courses have already been widely implemented for several years, but coupling them with other systems makes it possible to optimize their effectiveness.
Optimization of logistics flows
Optimizing logistics flows and in particular filling rates is the second essential lever to reduce the carbon footprint of goods transport in France. A heavy goods vehicle that is not running full is an additional source of pollution, and above all of cost for the carrier. It is therefore necessary to optimize the filling rate of trucks to reduce the number of vehicles in circulation and limit empty journeys which are costly for operators and their customers. The pooling of flows is another avenue to exploit. Optimizing a route by grouping together goods belonging to several customers, however, requires significant logistics. The SAAS software tools that exist today are not accessible to all transport companies, particularly the smallest. Furthermore, it is quite difficult in the current market to carry out collaborations between companies. This observation pushed us to develop a truly effective system.
The ECOLOW system
The ECOLOW system is a simple and reliable way to reduce the carbon footprint of a truck by reducing its fuel consumption . This is a fuel saver box installed on the truck which reduces consumption by 5 to 7%*. This represents fewer CO2 emissions, but also a significant financial gain. The ECOLOW system is CEE, SEEE, CEM and RoHS . The manufacturer's warranty of the heavy goods vehicles on which it is installed is therefore fully preserved. ECOLOW adapts to all brands on the market and its installation takes no more than an hour except in specific cases. It is a truly innovative solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions with ease. By doing this you will also reduce your AdBlue consumption .
* It should be noted that on certain extreme cold type fuels (GNR) the result is reduced or even canceled.
Despite numerous efforts on the part of French transporters, emissions linked to the transport of goods are still significant. Reducing them is no longer just an ecological issue, but a financial necessity given future taxation projects and the increase in fuel prices. ECOLOW is actively acting in this direction to support all players in the road market in this fight.