The challenges of decarbonisation were the focal point for transport and industry-adjacent representatives who gathered yesterday at the Victorian Transport Association (VTA) Alternative Fuel Summit.
Held at Hyatt Place in Essendon Fields, the third annual event organised by the VTA combined presentations and panels by the likes of Cleanaway, JET Charge, Linfox, Volvo Trucks, Gallagher, Tiger Spider and others.
The complexities of government policy and additional pressures these added to operational viability were one of the key items on the agenda.
Many questions contingent to finding carbon neutral solutions in a soft economy set the scene for a robust Q&A session while a range of learnings from early adopters, and businesses pushing towards an inflection point were tempered with some of the economic realities of net zero targets.
JET Charge co-founder and CEO, Tim Washington, made the case for truck companies to approach electrification as leaders in the sustainability movement.
“The cost of energy and how you manage electricity going into your trucks is the single most important thing you can do,” he said.
“Stay independent, shop around, find a partner who will go into battle with you to get your best electricity rate. You are going to be some of the biggest consumers of electricity in the country. Act like it.”
While the case for total cost of ownership was made by several speakers, the resale value of battery electric vehicles, as one leasing operator pointed out, was often being neglected in the discussions.
Cleanaway’s Head of Carbon, Taku Ide, alongside Viva Energy Australia Carbon Solutions Manager, Rob Cavicchiolo, shared some candid insights to date from recent decarbonisation trials, subsequent struggles and potential solutions with asset life expectancy an obstacle to cutting out fossil fuel vehicles entirely.
“One key challenge is needing to continue to service our customers by buying diesel fleets today,” said Ide.
“From a decarbonisation and emissions perspective, the diesel usage is locked in for the next 10 to 15 years because those assets are good for that long.
“When I plan out the company’s decarbonisation strategy, the challenge is thinking of a way to continue to decarbonise while still running diesel assets today.”
Ide’s proposed policy levers to assist companies in their decarbonisation efforts included an excise tax for diesel as well as tax breaks for companies practising sustainable production.
A change of mindset was going to be crucial if fleets, hesitant to the benefits battery electric vehicles could bring to their business, were going to capitalise on the changes happening in the market.
While most fleets were not only informed of the price of diesel today, but what it was yesterday and last week, these ingrained behaviours could also help with vital step changes in transitioning areas of business.
Tom Chapman, Vice President Volvo Trucks Australia, said he was surprised, after conducting a recent survey, how many operators couldn’t specify how much they currently paid for energy.
“If you don’t know what you’re paying find out and when you do find out go and drive a better deal,” he said.
Chapman, who reminded the audience that environmental care had been a core value of Volvo Trucks since 1972, provided an update on what his company was doing in the fuels transition announcing, as of next week, the company would make its first fill within its manufacturing facility of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) 100 renewable fuel.
“All of the trucks produced at our Wacol facility up in Brisbane will be filled with HVO100 instead of diesel,” said Chapman.
“Depending on the trucks that we build and the volume, that’s north of 70,000 litres of diesel per year that will be saved representing a C0₂ saving of approximately 150 tonne.
“We see that as a huge part of our pathway moving forward.”
Additionally, Shadow Minister David Davis brought certain concerns of decarbonisation efforts to the Summit’s attendees, raising points which questioned the feasibility of constructing and integrating sustainable infrastructure during a financially-burdened period for the state.
“Victoria is burdened with taxes on one side and regulation on the other,” he said.
“When you’re wanting to move forward with new infrastructure and changes that require support and incentives, the debt position is going to make it harder for Victoria to adjust than another jurisdiction which is not burdened with those very large debts.”
Other highlights included Linfox’s discussion of its increasing battery electric fleet, a panel discussing on the perceived and real blindspots of companies looking to transition to alternative fuels and conversations surrounding risk management vulnerabilities in insurance coverage.
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