COLHD
31/10/2017
COLHD is a Horizon 2020 European-Funded project created to find alternatives to using fossil fuels in HGVs.
The freight road transport sector accounts for 25% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Alternative fuel vehicles only represented 3.4% of the European car fleet in 2012, and use of alternative fuels in HGVs (Heavy Goods Vehicles) is negligible as they are highly dependent on diesel.
The share of electric vehicles in the total activity of long-distance vehicles is foreseen to reach 15% by 2050, due to the size of the battery and long charging times needed to power such long-distance transport.
The share of LNG in total consumption of heavy-duty trucks is foreseen to go up to 2.8% and 8.2% in 2030 and 2050, respectively (EU Reference Scenario 2016).
Some large end users, such as Carrefour and IKEA, have already defined targets for the share of alternative-fuelled trucks in their fleets. However, there is currently a lack of attractiveness of fuel and powertrain alternatives for general public and businesses: improvement in existing technologies is either limited in performance or entails a high level of pollutant emissions; on the other hand, current alternative fuels fail to achieve significant GHG emissions reduction.
COLHD, for the first time, is aiming to develop an alternative fuel engine that is more efficient than a standard diesel one.
Up until now, no alternative fuel engine has proven to be more efficient than a standard diesel one.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement number 769974.
