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CommentaryWater is the new oil
As the pendulum of carbon zero energy source appears to be swinging back in the favour of hydrogen (at least measured by the number of recent press announcements) we’ve asked our energy expert Janet Wood to take a look at the production process and most importantly to water, the elixir of life, and the key role it plays in the hydrogen production process.
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Commentary
Let’s not consign biofuels to the scrapheap…
Last week another report was published extolling the virtues of battery electric trucks. While there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that or the findings of the report, there are so many hurdles to cross before we get to this electrified nirvana, that we can’t help thinking we’re missing a few tactical ...
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Commentary
Let’s talk about skills
As it’s National Apprentice Week, let’s talk about skills. The skills the industry is going to need, and the skills it’s not going to need, as we progress to the carbon zero landing point. First, let’s separate skills from resources. The point here is about the skills, the training and ...
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Commentary
Proposed weight increases for new technologies
Last week, the Department for Transport (DfT) put out its draft documentation outlining the changes to the Authorized Weight legislation. The new rules will allow additional gross weight capacity for new vehicles with lower emissions than traditional diesel vehicles. On the surface, the proposal looks like a step in the ...
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Commentary
Life in the legacy truck brands?
A recent interview our colleagues at Commercial Motor carried out with the new Managing Director at Scania UK has got us thinking about brand image, identity and differentiation between the truck manufacturers as we shift to a future beyond fossil fuels. The comments in the interview refer to Scania’s mighty ...
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Commentary
Are you making the most of the Capacity Market opportunity?
Mid January will see the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy set out procurement levels for its upcoming Capacity Market (CM) auction, due to start on 10 February. For those not familiar with the CM, it was introduced in 2014 as a way of providing an income stream for ...
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Commentary
Lessons to be learned from the electric passenger car backlash
It may be a quiet news week that’s caused it or the mainstream journalists have got bored of espousing their benefits or we may be facing a real backlash. But either way, over the past few days there seems to have been the ripple of a backlash against electric vehicles. ...
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Commentary
Does the UK 6x2 tractor unit have a place on the road to carbon zero?
For fear of sounding like a broken record coming up with yet another barrier for the industry to overcome on its journey to decarbonisation, we feel we should raise an amber flag on the ubiquitous (in the UK at least) 6x2 tractor unit. We raise this and other points, not ...
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Commentary
Our carbon zero 2023 wish list
It seems like it’s the time of the year for wish lists and new year’s resolutions, so we thought we’d ask our contributors to tell us where they would like to see some focus in the year ahead… Let’s have an open conversation [Andy] – people raising concerns with a ...
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Commentary
Pricing changes on the way for connections to the electricity grid
Do you want to get a new connection to the electricity network, or boost an existing connection? You may like to hold back on that until April, because after then the capital charge for the connection will fall away. At the moment, businesses are charged the full cost of new ...
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Commentary
OPX Logistics cuts emissions with new Thermo King refrigeration units
Swindon-based OPX Logistics has added ten refrigeration units to its fleet in a move aimed at cutting its emissions and helping it acheive its aim of eventually becoming net zero.
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Commentary
Searching for the first mover advantage
Normally, when you’re in an innovation race there should be a first mover advantage – the early bird catches the worm, and all that. And when it comes to the decarbonisation of the commercial vehicle and road freight sector, you would think that those operators who are first to the ...
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Commentary
What’s all the fuss about Scope 3 emissions reporting?
We’ve heard a lot of references to Scope 3 emissions in our discussions over the past few weeks. It’s an important regulatory development which all transport operators should have on their radar. We thought we’d kick off with a short explainer. Since April 2019, carbon reporting has been a mandatory ...
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Commentary
Let’s talk about the cost of commercial vehicle decarbonisation
There’s much to be written, and we’ll be writing plenty of it, on the journey to the carbon zero promised land. Much of it from suppliers as we’re bombarded with information as they jostle for position, establishing their credentials and bid to secure their place in the race. There are ...
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Commentary
Legislation will drive industry change
The news last week that all parties of the EU – the Commission, Parliament and Council – have reached an agreement to phase out petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2035 may not cover trucks, but its significance should not be ignored by the truck sector. This is BIG ...
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Commentary
Commercial vehicle operating duty cycles will drive carbon zero fuel choices
To guide some of the thinking and decision-making research we’ve worked with Darren Newman at Low Carbon Truck Consultancy to produce and update a simple summary table on the vehicle and technology choices open to truck operators as they pick their way through the journey to decarbonisation. ...
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Commentary
The road to decarbonisation is paved with good intentions…
Industry needs guidance, support and transparency if it’s going to meet the carbon zero challenges and keep the UK’s shelves fully stocked
