Transportation

Within the context of the “Fit for 55” package, the European Commission has issued several regulatory proposals aimed at the decarbonisation of the HDV transport sector in the EU.  Several technological options can concur to address the dilemma of security of supply and decarbonisation of the transport sector: electrification, biomethane, hydrogen, biofuels, e-fuels are all suitable options if combined with a holistic approach.

The ERCST project strongly supports the EU’s ambition to transition to a net zero energy system and vehicle sector by 2050. Zero emission vehicles are seen as the main technology destination to support this ambition.

The workstream’s aim is to consider the proposed legislative pathways from today to reach this ambition. It seeks to assess the robustness of the current policies, the impacts on stakeholders, the economic, environmental, and social consequences of the policy and to explore alternative or additional pathways to efficiently reach the target.

ERCST launched, in the end of 2023, two reports concerning the CO₂ standards for HDV regulation.

The first  sets the analytical framework and addresses the following question: what influences the determination of pathways for decarbonisation of heavy-duty transport? It identifies the assumptions that were used in defining the current decarbonisation solutions for HDVs, then it outlines changes in the economic, political, and social environment and, finally, determines new desired outcomes that need to be considered under current circumstances.

The second report analyses the current decarbonisation solutions for heavy duty road transport considering the new circumstances and recommendations for new pathways complementary and/or alternative to the existing ones.