Team Global Express, among other freight companies and vehicle manufacturers, is calling for stronger government support for decarbonisation in Australia.
According to the Australian Government’s latest Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, transport accounted for 18.6 per cent of Australia’s total emissions for the year to June 2022.
National emissions for the June quarter increased by 0.3 per cent in trend terms on the previous quarter, which was driven by a 2.8 per cent increase in diesel consumption, a 2.3 per cent increase in petrol consumption and a 42.7 per cent increase in domestic jet fuel.
Team Global Express ESG Director, Heather Bone, said Australian policy around transport is actively impeding progress.
“There is no policy framework encouraging the use of low emission fuels and there is an inherent conflict of interest that fossil fuels are such a huge income source for government,” she said.
Bone explained that bio-derived fuels such as biodiesel and renewable diesel are available now, but the Australian Government’s single biggest source of income is still fuel excise from fossil fuels.
“Indeed under current tax guidelines, if you use renewable diesel, it’s still considered to be 100 per cent fossil fuel for tax purposes.
“We would be using renewable diesel now if we could get it in bulk in Australia and our customers are absolutely demanding low carbon solutions.”
Australia is also limited in its biodiesel use to 20 per cent for the fuel tax credit, according to Bone.
“Not because our engines can’t take a higher blend, but we are limited by our fuel tax credit regime,” she said.
Bone said the path to decarbonisation may contain another hurdle, in the move to electric trucks.
“They are great fun to drive, but you can’t overstate how this is going to be the biggest change to our industry since the internal combustion engine was invented,” she said.
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