What is the potential market and benefits (emissions savings, fewer journeys, etc) from longer and heavier vehicles (>44 tonnes GVW) and how do we manage technical concerns and safety risks?
Background
The reducing environmental impacts strategic priority is in recognition that there is an environmental aspect to all transport, and therefore almost all the work of DfT. Transport is the largest emitting sector of greenhouse gases in the UK, contributing 27% of domestic emissions in 2019. Our transport system must change to deliver the government’s Net Zero ambition and DfT will drive forwards that change through our longer-term green transport agenda. On decarbonisation specifically, we published our Transport decarbonisation plan (TDP) in July 2021, which sets out the steps we will take to deliver the necessary carbon reductions across every form of transport. Sustainability will be at the heart of levelling-up. People everywhere will feel the benefits – villages, towns, cities, and countryside will be cleaner, greener, healthier and more prosperous and pleasant environments in which to live and work
Next steps
Get in touch with bridgetoresearch@dft.gov.uk
Source
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Related UKRI funded projects
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DecarboN8 - An integrated network to decarbonise transport
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2018 highlighted the need for urgent, transformative change, on an unprecedented scale, if global warming is to be restricted to 1.5C. The challenge...
Funded by: EPSRC
Why might this be relevant?
The DecarboN8 project aims to develop solutions for decarbonising transport, including addressing the carbon impacts of different options and understanding the regulatory environment, which aligns with the question's focus on emissions savings and managing technical concerns and safety risks.
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Low Carbon Transitions of Fleet Operations in Metropolitan Sites (LC TRANSFORMS)
The rapid urbanisation and increase in vehicle use in East Asia has created substantial environmental and social problems. In the UK, urban transport systems face similar issues, but generally at a smaller scale and at a...
Funded by: EPSRC
Why might this be relevant?
The LC TRANSFORMS project focuses on planning and deploying low carbon fleets and developing operational business models, which partially addresses the question's focus on potential market and benefits of longer and heavier vehicles, but may require additional work to fully answer the question.
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MULTIMODAL urban transport: integrated modelling and simulation towards net-zero, inclusive mobility
Domestic transport is the UK's highest emission sector, and congestion in cities is costly (e.g. London £5.1bn in 2021). Drastically reducing urban car dominance is imperative to reach the UK's 2050 net-zero target...
Funded by: UKRI FLF
Why might this be relevant?
Partially addresses the question by focusing on urban transport and emissions reduction, but does not specifically address longer and heavier vehicles.