Fossil free freight transport system

Freight transport of forest biomass and products amounts to around 25% of the transport work on Swedish roads, with timber being the most important flow. To meet Sweden’s climate goals, fossil-free solutions are needed for heavy trucks serving the forestry sector. This feasibility study compares and assesses some of the most important and innovative alternative measures to reach fossil-free freight transport: replacing fossil fuels with biofuels, electrification, and automated trucks as a new systems solution.

The project aims to recommend which new systems and combinations of techniques should be tested in concrete demonstration projects to increase the pace of the forest sector’s conversion to fossil-free transport. Stakeholders in the Swedish forestry industry take centre stage as does analysis of the feasibility of different solutions given the specific conditions and needs of the industry. An assessment of three types of flows of goods is conducted based on detailed transport data, for example on routes transporting timber between terminals and industries.

The project will assess the potential to reduce CO₂ emissions with the different technologies, along with providing detailed assessments of costs, as well as socio-technical barriers and opportunities. The approach will be technology-neutral and interdisciplinary, involving industry actors and researchers from different backgrounds. The goal is to understand the feasibility of different combinations of technologies and conclude which of these should be evaluated in-depth in demonstration projects, for example within the Triple F project (Fossil Free Freight).

Funder: Trafikverket: Skogsindustrierna

Partners: Skogforsk; Einride; SCA, BillerudKorsnäs; Södra; Sveaskog