New test programme for biogas trucks

The British Department for Transport has selected the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership to manage a new test programme for the Low Carbon Truck Trial.

The project will benchmark all the latest gas trucks for emissions including methane, carbon dioxide and fuel consumption, and compare gas vehicles (both OEM and retrofit conversions) with their direct diesel counterparts in a consistent manner using the latest measuring equipment over repeatable track cycles.

The test process will follow the LowCVP accreditation method for low carbon truck technology, building on the recent Ricardo report which assessed test protocols for monitoring methane slip, a particular concern for methane-powered vehicles and a potential major contribution to their greenhouse gas impact.

Andy Eastlake, Managing Director of LowCVP, said, “Biomethane is rapidly rising up the agenda as a major potential contributor to HGV fleet decarbonisation, but the evidence base is confused and vehicle technology (particularly with Euro-6) has developed extremely rapidly in the last couple of years as the Low Carbon Truck Trial has run.”

The project hopes to create a robust evidence base on gas use in HGVs, to provide a basis for the formation of long-term government policy options in this sector.