Road freight transport is facing the challenge of decarbonisation

In the climate action plan, a 10 % reduction of emissions from the road freight transport sector is proposed by 2030. Transport accounts for approximately 18 % of greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland. Diesel-powered heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and buses produce 38 % of our road transport emissions. The transition to zero-emission alternative fuels is considered difficult for heavy truck operators' fleets due to the limited supply of affordable and accessible alternative fuel vehicles, the significant cost differential between new fuels and traditional diesel vehicles, and the current insufficient availability of infrastructure to support a permanent transition. In line with the EU's ambition, the Irish government has committed to achieving a 51 % reduction in Ireland's total greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2030 and to net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. These legally binding targets are set out in Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Supplement) of the 2021 Act. The recently published climate action plan sand for the first time specifically focuses on the freight and heavy freight road transport sector. The total reductions required in the heavy goods sector will achieve around 10 % emissions reductions by 2030 compared to 2018 levels, the report says. That's no bad thing - demand for freight transport is set to increase with volumes forecast to increase by 91 % by 2050 and Ireland's population expected to increase by 1 million to around 6 million people over the same period. As an island, Ireland is dependent on strong sea and air connections with the world. Around 95 % of all imports and exports pass through our seaports, with Dublin Port by far the largest, accounting for over 80 % of all trade combined (roll-on-roll-off and load-on-load-off). More than 90 % goods are transported by road, which is due to a significantly lower share of other modes of transport. (Aidan Flynn, Irish Examiner)