Overview
According to the International Energy Agency, freight volumes are expected to double by 2050. In ground freight, the majority of emissions, an enormous 90-95%, come from the combustion of petroleum fuel while 5-10% come from the leakage of refrigerants air conditioning systems.
Although there is an excellent opportunity for the adoption of all efficiency measures, there are still many market barriers. A principle-agent problem exists with incentives for owners of leased fleets not investing in upgrades because they will not directly benefit from the savings. Access to capital is also a barrier for purchasing efficiency technology retrofits. Even if money is not an issue, some fleet owners simply are not aware of the benefits of efficiency measures. Once fleet owners are educated on these measures, owners need to have the will to take the time to alter fleet operations.
Opportunities
The adoption of efficiency technologies provides significant opportunities for cost saving and GHG emissions reduction. These efficiency technology categories and their GHG abatement potential include:
- aerodynamics (3-15%),
- refrigerants (5-10%),
- anti-‐idle devices (5-9%),
- traction and rolling resistance (3-6%),
- transmission (2.5-6%).
Help us continue our research and identify opportunities; download our Trucking Efficiency report to learn more and join our LinkedIn group to engage with our community.
