TRANSPORT operators can’t move to low or zero carbon-fueled vehicles without a whole-of-supply chain approach and a willingness by everyone – including consumers – to share the cost of the clean energy transition, Victorian Transport Association CEO Peter Anderson said on Tuesday (18 November).
“Your social conscience doesn’t mean a thing if you’re broke,” Mr Anderson told the fourth VTA Alternative Fuel Summit in Melbourne in his opening address.
There is “an enormous amount of government finding available for transition projects,” Mr Anderson noted, and this was “good news for those trying to beat the demands of the market".
“However, there may be a time when penalties are the motivator of change,” Mr Anderson warned.
“A carbon tax or carbon trading scheme are just two mechanisms that governments will consider going forward.
“These initiatives will accelerate transition planning and make many businesses reconsider their position in the decarbonisation process.”
But in the absence of a carbon price signal, customers have shown an unwillingness to pay more for products due to the costs of replacing diesel-fueled freight trucks and vans with low or zero carbon-emission (LZET) models, Professor Hadi Ghaderi who leads Swinburne University’s supply chain decarbonisation initiative observed.
Addressing the summit, Professor Ghaderi cited a survey showing the appetite for LZET vehicles was lowest among heavy vehicle operators, but higher among light distribution vehicle operators.
Setting the scene, three LZET fuels have emerged for road transport operators: battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and renewable diesel, fuel supplier Viva Energy Australia’s national commercial road sales transport manager Luke Mandato pointed out.
And the last – renewable diesel – is “a drop-in solution” available to existing diesel trucks, Mr Mandato noted.
Viva also has opened a green hydrogen refuelling depot this year at Geelong, close to its oil refinery, where its four foundation hydrogen fuel customers can refuel.
But renewable diesel and battery electric are further advanced in the road transport fuel transition, Mr Mandato noted.
“Is the transport industry ready to decarbonise?” Mr Manadato posed. “Yes, but only if we’re honest and ready to share the cost and collaborate, supporting small and medium operators to make the transition.”
In Victoria, transport operators can enjoy subsidised leasing of electric heavy vehicles, the summit heard. Freight Victoria acting director policy and strategy Melissa O’Brien said the subsidised EHV leasing was available under a trial program with an electric truck manufacturer. The $8 million Victorian Freight Vehicle Charging Strategy was working towards a faster rollout of highway charging points to support the initiative.
The summit included an exhibition of electric trucks and other heavy vehicles.