Cenex, UK’s Centre of Excellence for low-carbon and fuel cell technologies, has released its report on low-carbon truck and refuelling infrastructure demonstration trial (low-carbon truck trial).

The trial was commissioned by the UK government in order to support the procurement of low-emission heavy-goods vehicle (HGV) technologies and their supporting infrastructure.

For this project, Cenex partnered with the engineering consultancy Atkins and measured the impact of the nationwide HGV trial.

Cenex transport head Steve Carroll said: “Cenex is pleased to share the findings from the UK’s largest demonstration of low carbon trucks, which offer real-world evidence of the impact low carbon HGVs can have on UK truck emissions and efficiency.

"HGVs contribute nearly 20% of GHG emissions from road transport in the UK today.

“This trial highlights the importance of running large scale technology evaluation trials and demonstrates how investment in the right technology and infrastructure can significantly reduce the impact large-vehicle fleets have on our country’s overall emission levels.”

The trial also included 12 consortia projects, which were taken up by 35 participating companies, including fleets, emission-testing companies, station providers, universities and product developers.

For this trial, more than 370 low-carbon vehicles were used including dual-fuel vehicles, dedicated bio-methane and natural gas vehicles, and some trucks running entirely on used cooking oil.

"HGVs contribute nearly 20% of GHG emissions from road transport in the UK today."

The trial measured the low carbon trucks’ performance over four years and a total of 65 million kms.

For this project, the Department for Transport (DfT), the Office for Low-Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and Innovate UK, provided £11.3m in government funding, with an additional investment of £12.1m from industry participants.

The result of the four-year, £23.4m trial was submitted to the UK government funders.

Image: A truck on the road. Photo: courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net / nitinut.