4 minute read
OPINION
If every diesel engine met Euro 5 or Euro 6 levels, worldwide exhaust emissions would drop dramatically
These days, commentators and environmentalists are primarily focused on zero emissions, but with a little less haste, a more focused and targeted action could achieve cleaner air sooner. Green policies should be based on reality not aspirations. For example, how would we have delivered the much needed aid to Ukraine without diesel power? 2040 is the magic year for the removal of diesel as a source of transport fuel. It may be realistic, but the labelling of all diesel engines as dirty and harmful is not accurate in the first instance and in the second, it is counterproductive. Let’s go back to Tuesday 8th March last, as one of the first convoys of Irish Aid left Ireland with humanitarian supplies for those displaced by the conflict in Ukraine. I was very proud watching this happening, having spent most of my life in this industry doing what those drivers were doing every week of the year, bringing supplies in and out of Ireland. In a similar way the road transport industry played a bigger part in the Covid crisis than they may have got credit for.
If elated at watching the broadcast from Dublin Port as the convoy was boarding the ferry, those feelings came down to earth very quickly the next day. In an radio interview on the lunchtime news, Eamon Ryan T.D. the Minister for Environment, Climate & Communications, and Minister for Transport, stated in reply to a question about the rising cost of fuel that “we must reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and move to using more sustainable methods of transport”. We all know this Minister. In the first place most people accept a move towards a more sustainable future is the only way forward. But we are not ready for that yet. If the trucks that left Ireland the night before were electric powered they would not reach the port, such are the limitations on electric power currently. Minister Ryan has been presented with many opportunities for reducing Ireland’s truck emissions using Euro 5 & 6 engines, which he has chosen to ignore. He believes that our emissions will be saved by running Electric, Gas and Hydrogen trucks which are not currently available in mass production.
At a recent IRHA gathering, former president and current management team member Jerry Kiersey noted that: “In 2008, the Green Party on entering Government banned the use of Irish grown rape seed oil (RSO) for use as a fuel in trucks in line with the European Union’s decision to ban the growing of “food” crops for fuel. A similar decision was taken by the EU to ban the growing of Irish sugar beet. At that time there was a small cohort of Irish farmers and truck operators who had invested in producing the oil and converting trucks to run on RSO. Irish technicians produced the necessary equipment and the result was that even the oldest trucks produced almost zero emissions. The sums indicated that with support [these producers] could produce enough fuel for at least 5,000 trucks, and as many hauliers are connected to farming the oil would have a complete local cycle replacing diesel from the Middle East and Russia. However, that was just one of the many benefits, rape seed was grown traditionally as a break crop as was sugar beet, it requires minimal or no fertiliser, and the subsequent cereal crop (the same as the Ukraine grows) gains an increased yield of 10 to 15%. Cattle fed from the rape seed hulls left after the oil is produced have reduced cholesterol levels and the straw is turned to biomass. Ireland’s land today could be meeting the new requirements for local food and some fuel security.”
There are many affordable, effective ways in which Ireland can and should reduce its emissions, as hauliers have been investing in cleaner equipment for years. It is time for the Government to develop some independent ‘Green Thoughts’ and polices that are practical and effective. Without trucks, how else would Ireland’s most generous donations of support for the Ukrainian people get to their destination other than via diesel powered trucks? That same diesel which they have generously paid for is one of the most heavily taxed fuels for hauliers in Europe. We have a long way to go in the current Ukrainian crisis, but let’s be clear, trucks will still be needed as part of our sustainability.
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We are here to keep the wheels turning!
Williamstown, Co.Galway, Ireland. F45 RW70 +353 94 9643482 parts@experttd.com +353 87 6556448 accounts@experttd.com
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