Battery-electric trucks are expected to play the leading role in the future decarbonization of road freight transport. At the same time, a new study from Chalmers University of Technology shows that hydrogen could remain important for the heaviest trucks operating over long distances.
In the study, "Battery-Electric vs. Hydrogen: Modeling the decarbonization pathways and environmental trade-offs of global road freight," published in Advances in Applied Energy, researchers at Chalmers analyzed future road freight systems using a global energy model that considers costs, technology choices, energy supply and climate targets.
The results show that battery-electric trucks are the most cost-effective solution across most truck segments, particularly for regional transport. For the heaviest trucks with long daily driving ranges, however, hydrogen continues to play an important role.
"Overall, our research suggests there are strong reasons to pursue multiple fossil-free solutions as the transport sector decarbonizes. Relying on parallel pathways can reduce the risk that scaling up a single solution creates new challenges related to limited resources such as minerals, land or water," said Maria Grahn, associate professor in environmental and energy sciences at Chalmers University of Technology.
