Skip to main content

UK government to fund carbon-cutting truck trials

Truck operators have been invited to apply for a slice of US$15.34 million provided for industry trials of carbon-cutting trucks by the UK Department for Transport and the Technology Strategy Board. A competition opened yesterday for applications under the ‘Low carbon truck demonstration trial’ which will deliver fleets of low-emission heavy goods vehicles as well as supporting infrastructure such as fuelling stations and electric recharging hubs.
April 25, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSSTruck operators have been invited to apply for a slice of US$15.34 million provided for industry trials of carbon-cutting trucks by the UK 1837 Department for Transport and the 2231 Technology Strategy Board. A competition opened yesterday for applications under the ‘Low carbon truck demonstration trial’ which will deliver fleets of low-emission heavy goods vehicles as well as supporting infrastructure such as fuelling stations and electric recharging hubs.

“Almost a quarter of carbon from transport in this country comes from heavy goods vehicles, so this is a key area for us to tackle,” said transport minister Mike Penning. “These trials will show us how low-carbon technologies perform day-to-day in the real world, providing vital data to build operator confidence in these green trucks and allowing us to make policy choices based on hard evidence.

“The investment in gas refuelling infrastructure will also give haulage firms a push to buy gas-powered HGVs, leaving a legacy that will support low-carbon transport well into the future,” Penning said.

Companies wishing to take advantage of the funding have until 20 June to bid for up to US$1.2 million each. Trials will run for two years and data collected over this period will be used to inform Government policy on low-carbon road freight. To qualify for the competition, vehicles must deliver carbon savings of at least 15 per cent compared with the equivalent conventional vehicle. A variety of technologies are eligible for funding under the rules of the competition including gas-powered, dual fuel or hybrid trucks of over 7.5 tonnes and electric vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.

Details of the competition can be found online here.

Related Content

  • The sunshine subsidy for Colorado’s tollways
    January 10, 2014
    David Crawford reports on energy cost cutting on US highways. Just over a year after switch-on and with two global awards under its belt, the longest solar-powered toll road in the US is generating heightened interest in highway applications of alternative energy. The E-407, which loops around the eastern perimeter of the Denver metropolitan area in Colorado, won the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) President’s Overall Award for Excellence at its September 2013 Annual Meeting in
  • UK government to invest in autonomous cars, low emission vehicles
    November 24, 2016
    Presenting his Autumn Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced investment in transportation, including £390 million for future transport and a major new investment in the UK transport infrastructure. The £390 million investment in future technology includes: investment in testing infrastructure for driverless cars; provision of at least 550 new electric and hydrogen buses, reduce the emissions of 1,500 existing buses and support taxis to become zero emission; installation of more charging points fo
  • Truck tolls set to replace French ecotax
    June 24, 2014
    The controversial ecotax on heavy goods vehicles that sparked protests across France last year has been consigned to the scrapheap, according to a report in French newspaper The Connexion. Prime Minister Manuel Valls has confirmed that the government will roll out a new system of road tolls on trucks using roads with particularly heavy freight traffic. The charge will be imposed on vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes using 4,000 kilometres of roads that carry more than 2,500 heavy goods vehicles a day
  • UK Government funding for driverless and low carbon projects
    April 12, 2017
    The UK Government has awarded US$137 million (£109.7 million) of funding, alongside significant funding from industry, to help develop the next generation of driverless and low-carbon vehicles, as part of the Industrial Strategy and the government’s Plan for Britain. Seven innovative projects will share grants from the latest round of funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), the joint industry-government programme to put the UK at the forefront of low carbon vehicle technology. The projects,