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How green is electric?
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lying cars, Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs) capable of moving payloads up to 300 tonne, robotic parcel sorters... These types of new technology that are becoming available in the world transport market today and some of these products are already being utilised in Australia with the exception of flying cars. There is also an ever increasing number of companies around the world really going to town in new energy technology with names like Rolls Royce who are selling countries their small nuclear modular reactor plus many truck manufacturers who are or have developed exciting new transport technology that moves away from vehicles being powered by fossil fuel. Here in Australia - Zero-Emissions Autonomous Trucks are a thing in mining, and in transport it is likely to be either hydrogen or electric powered that people are looking at. Everyone wants well for the planet and with that spirit in mind, there seems to be a few obvious questions that need to be asked before choosing which green transport route to travel - both as a supplier and a customer. For the transport companies, whether it can be integrated into your existing fleet, suitability to the application, running costs, how long it will last, the cost to maintain, re sell will feature in the decision. However, as much of this technology is new or still has not been developed there is limited data to look back on. Hydrogen is the fuel, however electric requires charging. With hydrogen, it seems that exisiting roadside amenitities such as road houses and service stations could be utilised with the installation of hydrogen
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WATM • November 2021
tanks into their existing hub. This will in turn provide another industry for transport to compete in with delivery of hydrogen throughout the state. However, with electric there is a big elephant or two in the room which no one is talking about, namely – they are being charged by a 65% coal fired national power grid and where is the technology that offers a subsititute to this? Whilst electric can and is working in inner
Ask Google: Q Can electric vehicles charge themselves? A No. Energy conversions are
never 100 percent efficient, so every time we convert one form of energy to another, we lose some of that energy. Hybrids and EVs recapture some of their energy back into the batteries through regenerative braking.
city, Perth to Port Hedland is a little bit out of its scope at present with battery life but perhaps solar panels on top of all the road trains and hope it does not rain could be the answer to this problem... but seriously, it will be interesting to watch how technology develops to tackle these problems. The other aspect not spoken about is the cost to the planet of producing these battery cells and new technology. Did
we not learn from solar panels and start questioning what is involved in making them that could negate the end result you want to achieve - which is saving the planet isnt it? These questions should be asked by customers who choose a transport company based on its green credentials. Are those credentials really helping the planet or are they just lining someone’s pockets? As Western Roads Federation point out in this edition, whether we believe in climate change or not is irrelivent – governments, multi-national companies across the board, world banks etc are trying to control the narrative on where the world moves to and we are along for the ride. We are seeing a steady increase in Australian transport businesses and bodies touting electric as the way to go. They offer you and government assistance, they offer incentives for their contractors to use electric... there are books, products...blah, blah, blah however, not one of them addresses the facts about how electric is and will be charged in Australia, or that the technology and infrastructure for it to be environmentally viable has not yet been developed. What could be a further thorn in the electric story is if governments adopt renewable energy that relies on the weather to replace coal and gas. We have seen this scenario playing out overseas and no one wants unreliable expensive power. Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt says, “Australian coal is not going anywhere as coal-fired power still provides around 65 per cent of Australia’s electricity and remains the most reliable form of power generation.”
