Proponents of freight megatrucks argue that these would pull emissions down by reducing traffic on the roads. But instead, longer and heavier trucks would replace up to 30% of container transport on rail, increasing emissions by two million tonnes of CO2 per year, shows the research, which was commissioned by railway industry association CER.
The study was based on evidence from field tests in Germany and simulations in the UK.
At the moment, megatrucks are only permitted in two EU countries, Finland and Sweden, and are not allowed to travel across borders. The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Germany are running tests ahead of their possible introduction (EurActiv 23/07/07).
The European Commission is considering allowing trucks weighing up to 60 tonnes instead of the current 40t on all EU roads to help the bloc to attain its climate goals. A Commission study available since January argues that replacing three traditional trucks with two long and heavy vehicles (LHVs) would bring down both CO2 and toxic emissions.
Tuesday's study contests these findings, arguing that negative impacts of a modal shift from railways to roads in the longer term would far outweigh the short-term benefits of reducing emissions, due to more efficient road traffic. The authors thus conclude that longer and heavier road freight vehicles are "not a suitable element of climate protection policy".
"Allowing megatrucks on all European roads would […] inevitably produce a shift from rail back to road, both in terms of freight quantities and investment. Infrastructure investment would need to be focused on upgrading roads to cater for the new vehicles. It would also allow one particular transport mode to optimise its costs at the expense of society as a whole," said Johannes Ludewig, CER executive director.
The International Road Transport Union (IRU) stated that although it is cautious about how far a European modelling system can be applied to individual countries' circumstances, it is convinced about the climate benefits of heavy trucks. It urged people to disregard studies based on simulations when the Commission's report had drawn upon concrete tests conducted over a long period of time.
The EU's policy was outlined in the energy and climate package agreed in December, spearheaded by its flagship emissions trading scheme.
Speaking at a conference on Wednesday, the deputy director-general of the Commission's environment department, Jos Delbeke, said transport was still the problem sector. Although the EU already regulates cars and will regulate vans, trucks and the aviation sector in future, emissions are still going up across the sector, he lamented (see EurActiv LinksDossier on 'Cars & CO2').
"I think the next Commission should propose a similar package for transport," Delbeke said.
