Road freight goes green with £20million funding boost
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Funding to boost the UK’s transition to zero-emission road freight,
supporting industry and creating jobs has been announced today (27
July). Pioneering £20m zero-emission road freight trials, funded by
the Department for Transport and delivered by Innovate UK, will
help to develop innovative solutions to support the uptake of
zero-emission trucks. Using learning from field testing battery
electric vehicles in a real-world environment, and from undertaking
feasibility...Request free trial
Funding to boost the UK’s transition to zero-emission road freight, supporting industry and creating jobs has been announced today (27 July). Pioneering £20m zero-emission road freight trials, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered by Innovate UK, will help to develop innovative solutions to support the uptake of zero-emission trucks. Using learning from field testing battery electric vehicles in a real-world environment, and from undertaking feasibility studies, these activities will help to design and develop cost-effective, zero-emission heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and their refueling infrastructure right here in the UK. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Through our bold and ambitious Transport Decarbonisation Plan, we’re leading the way in the transition to zero-emission vehicles by becoming the first country in the world to commit to ending the sale of all new fossil-fuelled road vehicles by 2040. “From Doncaster to Scotland, by working in partnership with industry this funding will allow us to better understand the role of zero-emission HGVs, whilst levelling up the industry and boosting regional economies.” Successful projects include an ‘Electric Road System’ feasibility study, led by Costain Ltd, considering a 20km stretch of road near Scunthorpe for a possible trial of electric road systems. Electric Road Systems supply battery-electric trucks with electricity from overhead catenaries via a pantograph enabling HGVs to charge dynamically. Meanwhile, a hydrogen fuel cell feasibility study, led by Arcola Energy Ltd, will design a possible future trial of hydrogen fuel cell trucks and new refuelling infrastructure in Scotland. These projects, along with four other successful feasibility studies, aim to prepare for a potential demonstration of zero-emission freight technologies at scale on UK roads and will support the rollout of zero-emission technologies to decarbonise heavy transport vehicles. Commercial vehicle manufacturing company Leyland Trucks will be deploying 20 DAF battery electric trucks for use by public sector organisations to support uptake of battery electric trucks, enabling learning to be gathered from field testing vehicles in a real-world, real-time logistics environment. The investment in an interactive tool will de-risk, aid and encourage fleet operators to convert to battery electric vehicles. This is an important step in the transition to zero emission road freight. This announcement follows the launch of Government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan along with the consultation on a phase out date for new non-zero emission HGVs – showcasing our ongoing support for industry to develop new and innovative technologies that will help the UK to meet net zero by 2050. UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart said: “It's great news that a study involving Scottish utility and logistics companies and the University of St Andrews to design a potential trial for hydrogen fuel cell trucks and new refuelling infrastructure has received a share of £20 million UK Government funding. “The UK Government's Transport Decarbonisation Plan will help the country build back greener from Covid. With Glasgow firmly on the world stage later this year for the COP26 summit, these projects are vital to showing how the UK is innovating to help save the planet.” Rob Lawton, Project Manager, at Leyland Trucks said: “We’re delighted to have been selected to play such a key role in the initiative and we’re proud to be leading the drive towards a cleaner, more sustainable future for the road transport industry. We believe our LF Electric and CF Electric vehicles offer the best solution for zero-emissions operation, and we’re confident that the results from our NHS and Local Authority partners will support our own extensive and long-term testing programmes.” Richard Kemp-Harper, Strategy Director at Arcola Energy said: “We’re pleased to be leading this initiative to decarbonise of heavy-duty transport. The study will enable us to expand the application of Arcola Energy’s A-Drive fuel cell powertrain platform to a critical group of HGV operators that can benefit from Scotland’s strong potential for green hydrogen production.” William Wilson, CEO of Siemens Mobility Limited said: “Investing in proven technologies like eHighways can help us go further and faster to decarbonise the UK’s transport network, and support jobs and growth to level up the country. By building on successful trials from other countries like Germany, our ERS consortium M180 trial will help the UK move a step closer to replacing more polluting trucks with clean, efficient electric HGVs.” Notes to editors There are 20 projects in the overall programme: 2 battery electric vehicle demonstrators, 6 feasibility studies researching requirements for future demonstrations of zero-emission freight technologies at scale on UK roads (subject to funding) and 12 supply chain technology research projects. Further details are provided for three of these projects below. The full list is attached [ATTACH]. Designing a UK electric road system This Costain Ltd led feasibility study will identify the optimum technological, economic and environmental recommendations for an Electric Roads System (ERS) demonstrator. The study will draw on similar systems already being used in Germany and Sweden to create a UK solution. This feasibility study will consider a stretch of the M180 for a future demonstrator, although site selection will be finalised during the study. This proposed design will link Immingham Port with the logistics hubs of Doncaster including its airport. In proposed future trials (subject to funding), large trucks will be fitted with batteries that will be charged by the ERS and that provide sufficient energy for a 100-mile radius allowing them to reach their destinations when running off the ERS network. The UK's system will be designed to ensure compatibility with a potential European wide network, allowing the system to serve over 500 million people. The feasibility study will demonstrate the viability of all component parts of the system and engage key stakeholders, including UK based businesses who may be interested in participating in future trials (subject to funding). The project aims to develop many of the skills needed to roll out the demonstrator in partnership with Doncaster's National College for Advanced Transport & Infrastructure. Scottish Hydrogen Freight Trial Design (SHyFT) This Arcola Energy Limited led feasibility study is designing green hydrogen supply and hydrogen truck refuelling infrastructure for potential deployment in Scotland. The feasibility study will work with key user groups and networks supporting the rollout of hydrogen technologies. There are options for long-distance links through routes to England and opportunities to collaborate with other regions and projects through this programme moving forward (subject to funding). A key objective is to identify early adopters with a drive to decarbonise their heavy transport, and to use these cases to specify both vehicle and infrastructure requirements. Operator routes will be used to design demonstration scenarios and refuelling requirements, identify locations and establish the plan for new infrastructure. Scottish Power are included to provide the connection to green hydrogen production and supply and BOC provide expertise in refuelling infrastructure. The project involves several key operators and use-cases directly; NewCold (refrigerated logistics), Scottish Water (sludge transport), St Andrews University (biomass fuel), and two key networks of operators, the Timber Transport Forum (Scottish forestry sector) and Scottish Wholesale Association (food and drink transport). Leyland Trucks This project will identify and develop innovative solutions to the challenge of supporting uptake of battery electric trucks. Leyland Trucks are supplying 20 DAF Battery Electric Trucks (nineteen tonnes Gross Vehicle Weight) and required charging infrastructure for use in various vehicle operations for public sector organisations including the NHS. The project is valued at £10 million and is delivered using the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI). The project aims to:
Data logging equipment will be installed on these vehicles so all key operational parameters can be logged and analysed. From this information an interactive report and website will be created to:
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