An interim assessment of the E-Highway field test shows how carbon dioxide could be saved in heavy-duty transport. Criticism, however, comes from the Taxpayers’ Association.
Trucks can significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions when used on e-highways. This is shown by the first results of the Schleswig-Holstein pilot test on the route between Lübeck and Reinfeld.
When driving electrically, CO₂ emissions can be reduced by around half with today’s electricity mix, said Falk Richter from the Technical University of Dresden on Thursday at the presentation in Kiel. With an increasing proportion of green electricity in the energy mix, emissions could be further reduced.
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But the potential for CO2 reduction is not only determined by the electricity mix, but also by the vehicle models. According to the Kiel University of Applied Sciences, by optimizing the vehicles, they can obtain energy from the overhead lines more efficiently. “We have noticed that the vehicles now drive reliably overall and, with the increased energy consumption from the overhead lines, they can also bridge larger gaps in the overhead lines,” explained Klaus Lebert from the Kiel University of Applied Sciences.
Taxpayers’ Association considers the experiment to have failed
According to the university of applied sciences, with only 20 percent overhead lines, the trucks on their routes are already up to 50 percent electric. For this purpose, the energy obtained from the overhead line is stored in a battery. The hybrid vehicles then use diesel for the remaining 50 percent of the route. The E-Highway Schleswig-Holstein field test is one of three pilot projects in Germany in which the use of overhead line trucks in real operation is being researched. The field trial will run until the end of 2024 and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.TrendingGreentech.LIVE Conference April 25-27, 2024 (Spring Edition)
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However, criticism of the pilot test came from the Schleswig-Holstein Taxpayers’ Association. He considered the experiment a failure and called for an end to the field test in Schleswig-Holstein. The technology has proven to be technically feasible, but there are considerable doubts about its economic viability, said the managing director of the Schleswig-Holstein Taxpayers Association, Rainer Kersten.
“In view of the Europe-wide transport flows, large parts of the European motorway network would otherwise have to be provided with overhead lines,” he said. However, this is too expensive and not foreseeable.
According to Kersten, the money made available by stopping the experiment should be used for the further development of other technologies. Freight transport should also be shifted to trains and ships and these transport routes should be expanded.