Don't be daunted by decarbonisation. Chances are – you’re already doing it.
Paul Holland, Managing Director of UK/ANZ Fleet at Corpay, believes most commercial fleets are already hard at work on decarbonisation and achieving impressive results, even without moving to electric.
When many commercial vehicle fleet operators hear the word ‘decarbonisation’ they might feel rather daunted. Not because they don’t want to reduce their business’s impact on the environment, but because they see the problem of electrification, and by extension the decarbonisation of tailpipe emissions, as one they currently have few answers to.
But they shouldn’t. Decarbonisation, I would argue, has a far wider meaning than simply switching to battery powered vans, trucks and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), and is eminently achievable right now.
In fact, perhaps even without knowing it, almost every fleet has been hard at work on decarbonisation for decades.
Decarbonisation is about environmental responsibility, culture and compliance, improved efficiency and operational practicality, rather than a single technological shift from one powertrain or fuel source to another.
HGVs and commercial vehicles have unique challenges. Weight, range, payload, routing and refuelling infrastructure make electrification far less easy - and especially so for the bigger the vehicle, and the bigger demand on its capabilities.
But there are lots of ways to reduce environmental impact and carbon output without affecting fleet operations. This can include better route planning, using less fuel, making aerodynamic improvements to vehicles, or choosing trailers and schedules that deliver greater payloads more efficiently.
There’s not a transport operator out there who isn’t thinking about improving productivity daily, ensuring each mile a vehicle drives is more effective and efficient. And by burning less fuel, naturally fewer emissions are produced.
This is the stage where zero-emissions technology - such as hydrogen fuel cells or battery electric powertrains – becomes essential for heavy goods haulage and long-distance work. But, for the majority of long-haul operations, we’re not there yet.
The reality is that diesel remains, for now, in most cases the most effective solution for moving goods from A to B in bulk. But it’s also one of the biggest environmental challenges, with larger carbon footprints than other power types coming to the market.
So the industry finds itself trying to balance current needs against future wants. It’s in transition, testing electric and renewables and exploring multi-fuel strategies across its fleet.
The fact is that at this time, a credible decarbonisation strategy for HGV fleets cannot be built on a single technology or fuel type. Operational feasibility has to be at the heart of decision-making, ensuring that whatever choice is made works for the real-world demands of logistics, distribution, productivity and cost. To gamble on one powertrain for a transportation future that has yet to be fully defined would be too great a risk to a business. So what to do?
There are quick wins, even now. For some fleets whose vehicles run from distribution centres and return to base, or destinations, on predictable routes with access to a suitable charging infrastructure, electrification is beginning to work well. But not for all.
Beyond pure electrification, alternatives such as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) are replacing diesel, and in some fleets is proven to reduce net CO2 and other emissions. But it requires access to supply and there are some cost implications, as well as in-life adjustments to servicing and maintenance, that must be made to run them. The same can be said of Liquefied Natural Gas and bio-LNG. In future we may also see synthetic fuels produced that can replace diesel in an internal combustion engine.
So there are more nuanced approaches available, transitioning to cleaner fuel types and powertrains as they become viable. This piecemeal, experimental, fuel-agnostic approach isn’t a sign of indecision, but a reflection of how complex the landscape is.
Decarbonisation, then, should be seen as a process of evolution rather than a revolution, operating in cleaner, smarter, and more efficient ways to deliver both environmental and economic sustainability.
A major factor to this is buying fuel or power more effectively, and that’s where fuel cards come in. A fleet that is able to access networks for diesel, HVO, LNG and electric, as well as synthetic and hydrogen as they come on stream, has the ability to put the right vehicle in the right place, supported by sound infrastructure.
Operators need interoperable systems that integrate payment, access, and data collection to inform their decarbonisation strategy, because emissions are directly linked to fuel purchasing.
The more a fleet buys, the more emissions it is creating, and vice versa. Making the link between the two, and having the information to hand about what’s being used, and in what volume, creates a clear picture of your demands, and also highlights where new approaches are working – or not.
Ultimately, the industry will achieve net zero emissions at the tailpipe. The timescale for achieving this is yet to be determined, however, and so in the meantime, fleets are doing what they have always done, which is to run their operation more efficiently, using the best and cleanest possible fuel for the job.
By doing this, we just might eventually reach the goal of zero emissions in a way which is sustainable, both environmentally and economically.