CO₂ Levels Only 30 Percent Lower Than Standard Diesel Truck

If you’re thinking of investing in a zero-emissions truck, new research indicates it may not be as “green” as previously believed.

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released a report May 3 saying that even though electric trucks have no direct tailpipe emissions, they still produce a lot of carbon dioxide; in fact, their lifetime CO₂emissions are only 30 percent less than a standard diesel truck.

This is mainly because the production of the lithium-ion batteries used in electric trucks generates more than six times the carbon of diesel truck production, according to the ATRI study.

Researchers also noted that the U.S. electrical grid — which is used to recharge the batteries — still relies primarily on fossil fuels.

ATRI compared the lifetime carbon dioxide emissions from three types of vehicles: baseline diesel trucks, battery electric trucks, and hydrogen fuel cell trucks. It concluded that hydrogen fuel cell trucks are ultimately the most environmentally friendly, but the technology to make such vehicles feasible for long-haul operations doesn’t exist yet.

The report concluded by identifying additional strategies that can reduce carbon dioxide truck emissions for all three energy sources: diesel, electric and hydrogen.

For example, renewable diesel could decrease CO₂ emissions to only 32.7 percent of a standard diesel engine without requiring new infrastructure or truck equipment, according to researchers.

The study also says hydrogen sourced from solar-power electricity could enable hydrogen fuel cell trucks to emit only 8.8 percent of the baseline diesel CO₂.