Trucking Industry Summit 2022 This is the third and final summary of the key addresses from the Trucking Industry Summit 2022 held in Christchurch at the end of July.
Future Decarbonisation The decarbonisation options for New Zealand’s transport sector will be a combination of electrification, hydrogen, and liquid biofuels, according to Z Energy’s commercial fuels sales manager Spencer Tait. “There’s sort of a Godzilla-King Kong battle emerging as to what’s going to be the preferred solution,” he says. With north of 40,000 electric vehicles in New Zealand, Tait says a lot of investment is going into the electric vehicle space, including vehicles, infrastructure and government policy. “Our view is that at the moment, electricity has its nose just in front from a long-term point of view. We believe the technology coming through and what we’ve seen with smaller vehicles will flow through into the heavy-vehicle task as well.” Tait says there are some big barriers when it comes to hydrogen adoption. “It’s not just the investment in the assets, but also the infrastructure that supports it. And to do that at scale, in the time that we have, is a real challenge,” he says. When it comes to biofuels, Tait says Z has been pretty active in policy work with the government. “There’s a biofuel’s mandate that’s been drafted at the moment that will come into effect in April, 2023. What that’s asking to do is for all fuel retailers in New Zealand to sell small portions of fuel over the next few years as a biofuel,” he says. Tait says there is a range of biofuels available, including ethanol-based product, the BioD diesel product and a renewable diesel product coming out of Europe, which he says is most likely to be the preferred product for the transport sector in New Zealand. “It has a relatively higher or moderate unit cost, but requires no investment,
100 New Zealand Trucking
November 2022
Spencer Tait.
Brendan King.
both in the infrastructure to bring it to New Zealand, but also the vehicles that it would go into,” he says. “It’s literally just a drop in fuel. So in terms of adoption, obviously that means we can go really quickly. “We do see electrification and hydrogen playing a role in the future. But biofuels is what we see as the best solution for the next decade.” Brendan King, general manager at TR Group, says the drive towards decarbonising our world is gathering momentum and we are starting to see emerging technologies from the big truck manufacturers getting closer to mass production. “We think the key to success is focusing on ensuring customers have a great experience and fuel value. “We don’t always get it right, but we will always try to do our best. And this includes doing the right thing, and that includes doing the right thing when it comes to climate change,” he says. “Doing the right thing with climate change means taking some technology risk and, alongside some of our likeminded customers, trialling zero-emission vehicles. It is important that these technologies get real-life action, so we can all learn their limitations and see what advantages they can have.” King says it helps to support ongoing development of technology as well as supporting industries that are required to make it happen. “Be that around fuel infrastructure, service and repair and training. All of these support networks need to grow alongside the truck supply.” “The main question I get from people is, ‘Do electric trucks work?’ I can tell you that, yes, they do work, and they come with several advantages for a start. “They’re actually a bloody beautiful
Ryan McDonald. driving experience. They are smooth and quiet and have plenty of get up and go. As a rule, they’ve been mostly very reliable and cheap to run.” However, King says electric trucks also have their limitations. “They come with a very high capital cost, which is not offset by the lower operating costs. We are are also yet to see how long their life expectancy is, meaning diesel trucks are still cheaper from a total cost of ownership point of view,” he says. “Electric trucks are also heavier than their diesel counterparts. They have limited range and it can take an age to refuel or recharge them. Infrastructure is also very limited, and this will be the biggest thing that will limit the adoption of EV technology.” King says the alternative fuels space is an intriguing opportunity. “What will the transport industry look like in 100 years from now? If you think 100 years ago it was horses, well, what’s 100 years in front of us going to be? What’s even 10 years going to be like? “It’s hard to say with any real certainty, but one thing we do know is that it will look different.” Ryan McDonald, head of new business at Hiringa Energy, says there are lots of ways hydrogen can be used to decarbonise the New Zealand economy. “That’s not to say that we should be going after all of them,” he says. “At Hiringa, our approach is to hit heavy transport and heavy freight – that’s trucks, buses, planes and boats – to decarbonise the industrial fleet stock.” Hiringa is currently working on a hydrogen refuelling network that is being rolled out across the country. There are four stations under construction, at
