The Port of Rotterdam Authority, together with Transport en Logistiek Nederland (TLN), has commissioned an exploratory study to gain better insight into the feasibility of making container transport by road more sustainable in the port area.
The Port Authority said the study is part of its drive to be CO2-neutral by 2050 and it is focusing on the energy transition in the industry as well as on port logistics operations, such transport across the port area.
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Transporting containers by road is a focal point in this project, because even journeys under 3 kilometers, 12,000 of which take place in the port area every day, contribute approximately a megaton in CO2.
Rotterdam wants to make these journeys carbon-free by 2040, and want to promote the use of battery-electric trucks (E-Trucks) to the point where they will become a viable and attractive proposition by 2024, at which point it will become cheaper across its entire service life than a diesel truck.
To achieve this ambition, the Port Authority says many more developments will need to take place, such as increasing the use of electric trucks for container transport.
However, it expects electric trucks to become the “optimal form of transport across many distances”, which in turn will demand an optimised charging infrastructure to be available.
