Investment needed to help businesses decarbonise

Investment needed to help businesses decarbonise

By Chris Ashley - RHA Senior Policy Lead

The RHA wants to make Net Zero work, and we remain committed to ensuring our sector plays its part in the UK’s journey to achieve it. As part of this process, we’ll shortly be asking operators what they need to help decarbonise. We’ll be asking them about the challenges they face in decarbonising their HGV, coach, and van fleets.

Costs, practicality and a lack of infrastructure are holding firms back from moving away from diesel, so we want to better understand what that looks like, both short-term and long-term. The current economic climate, with rising insolvencies, adds to the pressure on operators, making clarity and confidence essential for investment.

Decarbonisation presents real opportunities for growth, but this will require significant investment and support for businesses to adapt to the changes. The cost of converting the UK’s HGV fleet to zero-emission vehicles is estimated at over £100bn, and the technology isn’t yet advanced enough for all businesses to make widespread purchases. 

Recently we submitted our core asks ahead of the Government Spending Review. 

We want Government to prioritise measures that reduce the costs of decarbonisation and steps can be taken now to reduce costs in the long run, such as prioritising infrastructure investment and ensuring that HGV parking facilities are futureproofed with electric charging capabilities.

Whilst we welcome the £30bn investment by the National Grid to upgrade the electricity network over the next five years, plans to improve grid connections must be expedited so that HGV and coach depots can connect to the grid in a timely manner. HGV parking should also be considered essential infrastructure, particularly along key routes and near logistics parks. Achieving this will be essential to keep vehicles moving and meet growing demands.

With the number of registered electric HGVs on UK roads low at 500, further support and direction will be needed to ensure the remaining 500,000 HGVs can be decarbonised to meet the Government’s Net Zero goals.

The Government must provide policy certainty that the phase-out dates for the sale of new diesel HGVs will remain in place, and provide clarity on equivalent phase-out dates for coaches.

Financial support will be needed to help operators manage the costs of decarbonisation; this includes a government-backed loan scheme for zero-emission vehicle acquisition and investment in the charging infrastructure needed for HGVs and coaches.

The RHA’s 15-year “Net Zero Strategy” outlines a practical approach to overcoming the barriers to decarbonisation, focusing on reducing costs, enhancing energy infrastructure, improving vehicle performance and evolving skills.

Working in partnership with initiatives like the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme, we aim to gather the data needed to inform the investment decisions going forward.

To achieve the UK’s Net Zero goals while keeping the supply-chain fluid and maintaining the high service standards expected of our sector, we need to see continued and targeted government support.

By reducing the costs of decarbonisation and ensuring the infrastructure is in place, our sector can help to play our part in paving the way for a more sustainable future.