Zemo & Aldersgate Group co-host workshop on accelerating decarbonisation of road freight
Tue 14 January 2025
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The freight sector comprises about 20% of the UK transport sector’s emissions but now significantly trails passenger cars in the decarbonisation transition. A workshop co-hosted by Zemo Partnership and the Aldersgate Group investigated the challenges and potential solutions.
Zemo's Chair, Philip Sellwood CBE, chaired the workshop, which was hosted by KPMG and attended by around 25 specialists, representing fleet operators, trade associations, infrastructure providers and other stakeholders.
The objective of the event was to consolidate a practical perspective on how the transition will work for heavy goods operators and how the Government could provide greater clarity. It aimed to further understanding around the assumptions HGV operators and fuel market players are making about decarbonisation trajectories for heavy goods vehicles, what factors are influencing those assumptions, where there are key differences between market participants; and what further support is needed to help accelerate the transition. The Department for Transport was represented at the event.
Following introductions by Gloria Esposito, Zemo's Director of Sustainable Business and Ben Foulser, Partner in KPMG's Infrastructure Advisory Group, delegates split into three roundtables to discuss how road freight will be decarbonised by 2050, the key technologies involved and the likely trajectory over the next 25 years. The groups were also tasked with identifying the policy interventions needed to accelerate the transition.
Issues covered included:
- Infrastructure and grid constraints, particularly the need to accelerate the process of accessing grid connections
- Battery electric trucks, including constraints (payload restrictions, duty cycles); financial challenges including total cost of ownership, tight margins, insurance issues.
- The impact of Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)
- The future of sustainable fuels, and how supply may be influenced by mandates and their timeframes
The workshop organisers are preparing a detailed summary of the proceedings, to be shared with participants and other key stakeholders.
Zemo's Tim Griffen and Emily Stevens also participated in the event. For more information, they can be contacted through Zemo Partnership's sustainable business team.
Zemo Partnership runs the Renewable Fuels Assurance Scheme (RFAS). The scheme verifies claims made by companies supplying renewable fuels to heavy duty vehicle and equipment operators regarding their product’s GHG emission savings and provenance of raw material feedstocks. Over 50 suppliers are now registered to the scheme.
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