etruck.com.au

The Federal Government must take a greater leadership position on fuel pricing, reducing emissions and exploring the opportunities of alternative fuels, according to Isuzu Director and Chief Operating Officer, Phil Taylor. He said rising fuel prices are not only affecting all motorists every time they refill, they are indirectly leading to a hike in the price of consumables, due to more expensive transportation costs.

“Unfortunately there is no magical panacea to address the problem of constantly rising fuel prices,” Taylor said, “however it’s something that Governments should have begun tackling some time ago.

“As a result we now get band-aid remedies from both the Government and Federal Opposition, the idea of cutting fuel excise by five cents a litre or freezing the GST on fuel is about short-term politicking and not a long-term solution. We believe an important consideration is to lessen our dependency on fuels such as petro diesel.”

Taylor said that manufacturers have an expanding role to play in addressing some of these problems, by offering superior products and advanced technology to aid fuel efficiency whilst reducing emissions.

“Truck manufacturers are increasingly showing initiative in research and development to bring new, more environmentally friendly technologies to market, however to expedite this process, Government should offer incentives to manufacturers as they do in other parts of the world,” he said.

“Earlier this year, the Federal and Victorian Governments committed a substantial amount of money to hybrid technology; while there is a niche for hybrids both in the automotive and heavy vehicle industries, it is only one of several potential solutions to reducing fuel costs and minimising emissions, fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) offer some viable alternatives,” Taylor said.

According to Isuzu, compared to conventional diesel and diesel-electric hybrid vehicles, the CNG-powered vehicle strongly outperforms the others in the areas of exhaust emissions, noticeably harmful PM (particulate matter) and NOx (combination of Nitrogen Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide). Both CNG and LNG are plentiful in Australia, however they require considerable infrastructure funding.

“There is wide-spread support within the road freight industry for the use of alternative fuels and technologies, but presently the lack of refueling facilities reduces the viability for manufacturers to introduce vehicles that operate using these fuels,” Taylor said.

“There are a number of local governments that have commissioned their own CNG refueling infrastructure at council depots, while a growing number of bus fleets are also turning to CNG, however little interest has been shown at a higher government level to promote and better facilitate the wider adoption of alternative fuels.”