The decarbonization of road transport

Recently 18 European companies and organizations, representing some of the leading companies in the transport, manufacturing and retail sectors, have launched the European Clean Transport Alliance (ECTA).

This association has been created with the aim of accelerating the decarbonization of road freight transport, the switch to zero-emission trucks and the reduction of other polluting emissions so that the limits imposed by the EU can be met by 2030, with the purpose of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

In its first statement, ECTA calls on the European Commission to accelerate «the complete decarbonization of the road freight transport sector.»

It is estimated that there are around 40 million transport vehicles circulating on European roads, these being responsible for more than three quarters of the goods transported. And that in 2050 the transport of goods by road will double.

Therefore, ECTA requests that action not only be taken on the road freight transport sector, but also on the rest of the sectors related to transport, such as the energy supply sector, service stations and suppliers of services.

Among the set of proposals that the association puts forward to Brussels is the long-term goal setting, despite the currently existing technical limitations, of transferring current trucks to zero-emission trucks and providing infrastructure required for these types of trucks. In addition to phasing out support measures for fossil fuels at European and national level.

It also calls for mechanisms to be introduced to measure and reduce the environmental footprint of battery cell manufacturing, the impact they leave during their life cycle, and ensure that batteries are easy to disassemble, repair, reuse and recycle.