The European Commission’s new growth strategy, i.e. its European Green Deal, aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy.
Innovations enabled by digital connectivity, increases in computational power, falling costs of new technologies and low- and zero-carbon energy vectors hold the potential to help reducing CO2 emissions and to achieve greater sustainability in the transport sector, all while allowing for a fair transition to a decarbonised sector. Achieving these objectives will rely on the right government policies.
This project aimed at providing fora for EU member states and other countries/economies, and all key transport stakeholders, to identify transport R&I priorities of common interest, addressing technological, societal and behavioural aspects to fight climate change, as well as to support a socially fair transition towards connected, integrated, sustainable and safe transport and mobility for all.
To achieve the project's objectives, three stakeholder fora were set up to establish policy insights and recommendations to drive transport decarbonisation in the hard to abate sectors. The specific insights per sector and topic tackled were the following:
Aviation (focus on upscaling the availability of sustainable aviation fuels, SAFs):
-) Scaling up the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels is a priority. They are ready now and are compatible with the existing aircraft fleet, which will still be the fleet used in 2050, when the sector has pledged to be carbon neutral.
-) Policy certainty is needed to make the large investments required so that SAF can be produced and made available at scale.
-) Scaling up SAF relies on timely and targeted policy support. Governments should promptly establish effective policies for increasing production and realising cost reductions, thus bringing the sector on track to imminent SAF targets.
-) Interest and priorities differ between markets and regions. Policy approaches must consider these differences, whose underlying factors include varying readiness to adopt SAF targets and diverse SAF feedstock profiles.
-) Stimulating public and private investments is a priority. Existing production plants are small, especially for advanced SAF pathways. This slows down cost reductions and market growth.
-) Aviation competes with other sectors for the raw materials used to make fuel. Several markets mandate bioenergy in road transport but not in aviation. This can make SAF production less attractive than producing biodiesel and ethanol.
-) Scaling up SAF can decentralise fuel production to small facilities close to where raw material is sourced.
Shipping (focus on facilitating the implementation of carbon pricing):
-) Some barriers need to be overcome before member states of the International Maritime Organization will adopt carbon pricing and fuel standards for international shipping.
-) Carbon pricing and fuel standards are essential to create a market for zero-carbon shipping, but there are different ideas on what would be the most appropriate design for such mechanisms.
-) Comprehensive impacts of assessments on states are crucial for the possible acceptance of decarbonisation measures for the shipping industry, including carbon pricing. In addition to assessment of negative impacts, such assessments could also take into account climate change impacts on shipping and ports, as well as business opportunities related to decarbonisation of shipping.
Heavy Duty Road Freight transport (focus on navigating the technology uncertainty around zero emission trucks):
-) The decarbonisation of road freight has significant momentum among governments and in the private sector.
-) Many countries are developing comprehensive frameworks to promote the adoption of zero-emissions vehicles. Some governments are already building upon those frameworks by operating pilot projects at significant scale.
-) It will be important to deploy recharging and refuelling infrastructure in the 2020s to reach ambitious decarbonisation targets. Understanding the technical and economic aspects of different options as soon as possible is essential for timely deployment.
-) Different technologies suit different use cases. For urban deliveries and other short-distance uses, battery electric vehicles are seen as most likely to be ready for deployment. For other, more challenging use cases, infrastructure decisions are crucial.
-) Uncertainty persists about the technologies best suited to decarbonise long-haul transport.
-) Pilot projects are seen as particularly important to overcome some of the technology uncertainty and understand specific national challenges in the short term.
-) International cooperation is crucial to ensure compatibility and mutually reinforcing approaches to decarbonisation of heavy goods road vehicles.
