The Victorian Department of Transport and Planning hosted an informative Freight Industry Decarbonisation Summit in Melbourne yesterday, which was opened by Melissa Horne, Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Roads and Road Safety.
The Summit brought together industry leaders to collaborate with government on a roadmap towards achieving net zero emissions by 2045.
All transport modes collectively account for around 25 per cent of emissions, with road transport accounting for the largest percentage.
Meanwhile Climateworks Centre has also delivered a new report which shows that freight is a major contributor to emissions, estimated to be just under 40 per cent of the transport total, with road transport contributing 83 per cent of those emissions. This represents approximately 7 per cent of Australia’s total emissions. The report identifies short-haul freight as where Australia can start reducing 51 per cent of its freight emissions by utilising more modern vehicles and a Modal shift to rail. https://lnkd.in/d8ZQuYp3
Ben Newton from Primary Connect identified a number of ways that government can support the transition:
- National consistency on key policies to support investor confidence.
- Nationally consistent approach to a gradual introduction of Road User Charges.
- Weight and dimension allowances to reduce costs and improve productivity.
- Planning support for local operations flexibility.
- Leading investment in charging infrastructure and energy grid development to enable transition to renewables.
- Supporting investment in local industry for vehicle and component supply and assembly.
- Supporting development of skills and education for new requirements in maintenance and support.
The Discussion Panel agreed that decarbonisation had encouraged unparalleled levels of industry collaboration. However industry low margins, high costs and long lead times remained a barrier to rapid adaptation of Zero Emissions Vehicles and technologies.
Praveen Reddy – Executive Director Freight Victoria, Hermione Parsons – CEO Australian Logistics Council, Mark Mazurek – CEO Linfox, Sandra Lau – Head of Hydrogen & EV’s Viva Energy Australia Michael Kilgariff, Peter Anderson CEO VTA, Caryn Anderson – Executive GM Port of Melbourne, Andrew Newman – Director Policy and Strategy Freight Victoria.
