Roundtable roll out for road freight energy report

The central London meeting brought together representatives from government, industry and trade bodies with presentations from Logistics UK and Energy UK providing the impetus for a lively and informative discussion.

Deputy Director – Policy Michelle Gardner presented the key findings of 'Exploring current and future energy demand from road freight' – a report published by Logistics UK on behalf of the Department for Transport’s Freight Energy Forum. The document is part of a broader project to understand how much energy is required to support the net zero transition for the whole logistics sector and estimates the amount of power required to electrify the UK’s road freight vehicles to be 32 TWh (terawatt hours).

Ms Gardner comments, “The calculation helps demonstrate the potential scale of future energy demand for road logistics and shows why planning and collaboration between the logistics and energy sectors is essential.”

The high cost of electricity for non-domestic users remains a major barrier to electrification and Energy UK highlighted how the UK has the highest industrial electricity costs in the G7, and some of the highest in the world. Participants agreed and highlighted how price differences are very noticeable within international companies, with one delegate suggesting if UK electricity costs were the same as their colleagues in Europe, they would electrify all their vehicles “tomorrow”.

Participants felt there were significant challenges ahead, especially for heavier and more specialist vehicles and at the moment the total cost of ownership (TCO) of eHGVs is prohibitively high.

The discussions also showed that delegates feel it is important for the government to recognise that decarbonisation is a transition and not a “cliff edge”, and there was a consensus that low carbon fuels such as HVO are a very effective way to drive lower emissions quickly and need to be included in a future HGV Infrastructure Strategy.

“Our report highlights a degree of uncertainty within the sector and to help address this we are calling for a national logistics energy infrastructure roadmap,” concludes Ms Gardner. “Commercial viability will always be the main driver for businesses, but there is still a lot of doubt over what will be the dominant technology. There is a reluctance to commit to any one solution, such as electrification, if hydrogen could become a viable alternative and the sector needs greater clarity and support from government to give it the confidence to invest.”

Copies of the report 'Exploring current and future energy demand from road freight' can be downloaded here: https://logistics.org.uk/exploring-current-and-future-energy-demand-road-freight-report, along with Logistics UK’s policy recommendations.