Logistics decarbonising is the last frontier of transport decarbonisation. The low hanging fruit of cleaning up transport has been (almost) done as EV cars have become mainstream. Now for the heavy stuff.
Transport accounts for over 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Zero that out and the climate will benefit. If it was that easy - and economically viable - we’d have already done it.
Problems in decarbonisation
The biggest problems in cleaning up logistics from a climate perspective are:
- Energy density of new energy storage systems including batteries but also chemical storage like hydrogen
- Cost relative to fossil fuels facing ever tighter margins in the industry
- Different climate impacts of new energy products
- Public and private infrastructure
- Uneven global regulatory landscape
- Small c conservatism in the global logistics industry
These are issues that come up time and again when the idea of green logistics is raised.
What are the answers? Nothing simple it seems. Where will we be in 10 years from now? That depends on the technological and regulatory landscape. We just don’t know at the moment.
Battery energy density has grown considerably while costs have plummeted in recent years, and - unevenly at a global scale - infrastructure has begun to improve, but there’s still some way to go.
Costs and margins might mean that in road freight the little companies that are the majority of the industry may have to consolidate or die out. It’s not a case of simply buying a new energy heavy duty vehicle and keeping on trucking.
We all want to do our bit for the climate and our grandchildren. For now, we haven’t quite figured out the answers in logistics decarbonisation. There’s hope but sadly nothing certain for now.