- TIMBERBIZ.COM.AU - A La Une - 09/Jul 00:30

How to decarbonise freight transport, starting in South Australia

Efforts to decarbonise freight transport in the South East of South Australia are being accelerated through a State Government supported project aimed at helping the State’s forest industries to reach net zero targets. Source: SE Voice The State Government is investing $200,000 towards the Decarbonising the Freight Task – Driving to Net Zero project, a joint South Australian Forest Products Association (SAFPA) and Tabeel Trading Nominees venture. The funding, provided under the South Australian Wood Fibre and Timber Industry Master Plan, supports the State Government’s vision of decarbonising forest freight to further reduce carbon emissions across one of the hardest-to-abate sectors – heavy freight transport. Minister for Forest Industries Clare Scriven said at a time when economies around the world and in Australia are seeking to decarbonise, the forest industry has a key role to play. “Electrification of the freight network is a fantastic potential opportunity, obviously South Australia, Australia more broadly and around the world is trying to decarbonise and move towards net zero here in SA and decarbonising the freight task is a significant part of that,” she said. “Through Tabeel Trading and South Australian Forest Products Association’s proposed project they are going to be looking at what is needed for that to be able to occur. “We know that electric vehicles are the way of the future, the question is ‘can they be applied to the forest industry and if so, how soon?’ “Having a vision to be a future-focused, circular industry with globally recognised skills and innovation will ensure that our forest industries are ideally placed to grow and thrive in the coming decades, benefitting all South Australians.” The project will include new technologies aimed at reducing reliance on diesel, with the end goal to decarbonise forestry’s freight trucks through electrification, which will deliver substantial carbon savings. Funding will support stage one of the project by developing an evidence-based decarbonisation roadmap for South Australia’s forest freight fleet, detailed cost-benefit analysis of alternative freight technologies including the modelling of emission reductions, a freight logistics and charging/refuelling infrastructure blueprint and policy, regulatory and investment recommendations aligned to state and national climate targets and Master Plan priorities. Subject to the findings from stage one and the availability of vehicles and infrastructure, stage two will see the project progress to a live demonstration phase to validate modelling results under operational forest freight conditions. South Australian Forest Products Association chief executive Nathan Paine said the project has the potential to drive transformative change, supporting the decarbonisation of heavy vehicles not only in forestry but right across South Australia, the nation and even globally. “This is almost stage two of the industry looking to decarbonise, stage one was Fennell Forestry’s electric log truck trial and that showed some really great promise,” he said. “This next piece is really about industry coming together and figuring out what that next road map is for decarbonising. “It is not just looking at electrification, it is also looking at the other alternative fuels as the trajectory towards electrification … this project funded by Minister Scriven is looking at everything from biofuel to alternative renewable diesel. “The learnings and solutions we develop will not just help our industry – they can accelerate decarbonisation throughout the broader heavy vehicle freight sector. “Importantly, we are also involving Primary Producers South Australia as the peak state farming organisation, the South Australian Freight Council and the South Australian Road Transport Association so obviously we will start in the Green Triangle with the forest industries, but we want to make sure the benefits, and the learnings are shared across the state and across the industries. “Stage one is envisaged to take up to 12 months and then the ambitious plan is to get some trucks on the road in about 12 months’ time. “We would have liked them a little bit earlier but speaking to OEM manufacturers like Scania there is significant demand for these trucks in Europe and actually getting us into their production schedule is important, but that conversation is already under way.” Tabeel Trading Nominees (TTN) general manager Adrian Flowers added that TTN’s trucks travel over 3.3 million kilometres every year meaning even modest improvements in emissions can deliver significant carbon savings. “This project is not just about understanding how electric trucks operate in our region; it’s about creating a practical roadmap for how South Australia – and indeed Australia – can decarbonise freight in complex regional operations,” he said. “Australia is a big place and as soon as you move away from the cities and the distances that we travel, the overall net weight that we fall on our heavy vehicle combinations, it is much higher than what it is anywhere else in the world so the sheer size and distance that we travel is probably the biggest obstacle we need to overcome. “Here in the South East of South Australia we’re very, very fortunate the distance between our resource; the forest, and to our various mills here locally enables us to come up with strategic plans to limit the distance, get creative about what our shifts look like in our trucks and that will eliminate some of those challenges.” The Decarbonising the Freight Task project aligns with the Master Plan’s goal of developing a clean and green circular economy. The South Australian Wood Fibre and Timber Industry Master Plan, launched in February 2024, was developed by the Forest Industries Advisory Council of South Australia (FIAC-SA) as part of a State Government election commitment to provide a vision to further grow and develop South Australia’s $3b forest industry.