Scania speaks up at COP24 climate conference

Speaking at the Electromobility Day at the UN’s COP24 climate conference in Katowice, Poland, Scania’s Executive Vice President for Commercial Operations, Mathias Carlbaum (pictured), has confirmed the company’s commitment to the Paris Agreement terms to curb global warming.

“Climate change cannot wait, and we need to take action now. We can start to bend the emission curve here and now,” he said.

In keeping with its view of pathways to sustainable transport, Carlbaum said Scania welcomes the European Commission’s strategic long-term vision for a climate neutral economy by 2050. “Climate change cannot wait, and we need to take action now. We can start to bend the emission curve here and now,” he said.

This calls for rapid electrification and, in parallel, a strong deployment of sustainable biofuels. “Given the sense of urgency, we can’t continue to emit fossil carbon for ten more years,” Carlbaum said. “We need to quickly deploy the solutions for CO2-free transport that are already at hand.”

In the coming decade, heavy vehicles will increasingly be electrified, initially as hybrids. Meanwhile, e-highways offer a highly promising carbon-reduction pathway. Scania is involved in projects in Sweden, Germany and Italy.

“The technology is already here and tested. They improve efficiency in the use of electric vehicles and need for batteries. Connecting the main road network between the three largest Swedish cities with an electrical road network would, for example, decrease carbon emissions from road freight by half.”

However, Carlbaum said it is not expected that electrified heavy transports will be fully technically and commercially viable for another ten years. Therefore, to succeed in fulfilling climate goals, sustainable biofuels must increasingly be utilised. “In combination with electrification, this gives the fastest carbon emission abatement.”

Scania’s vehicles can operate on all commercially available renewable biofuels, which means carbon emission reductions of up 90 per cent. “The widespread proliferation of bioenergy is realistic and has a significant potential,” Carlbaum told the conference.

“Ethanol, biogas and biodiesel all have the advantage of contributing to a regional circular economy, reducing CO2 emissions, increasing energy security and creating local jobs.”

Carlbaum also emphasised to the Katowice audience the need for new partnerships, creating the right conditions along the value chain together with customers and customers’ customers. “Agriculture, forestry and waste handling all have a potential to contribute to the production of bioenergy. The development of infrastructure and, not the least, political frameworks all need to go hand in hand,” he concluded.