Technical innovations such as electrification will help push trucks in China toward net-zero emissions, said experts attending the Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero Emissions Summit in Bo’ao, Hainan province. The island province at China’s southernmost point has become a pioneer of zero-emission vehicles, as it took the lead to announce in March that it would ban the sales of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2030. The summit was part of the 2019 World New Energy Vehicles Congress in early July, and was organized by Energy Foundation China and CALSTART, a U.S.-based nonprofit that focuses on the growth of a clean transportation technologies industry.

Medium- and Heavy-Duty vehicles are mainly powered by diesel at present, which has resulted in significant air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. With increasingly stricter regulation of the emissions from motor vehicles in the European Union, the United States, and China, exploring the pathway toward zero emissions has become an necessity. Electrification is one of the more promising routes. The focus of the summit was on the policy, technology, and market opportunities and challenges of achieving zero emissions for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles domestically and globally. Experts believed that the increasing cost of traditional energy conservation and emission reduction solutions had created an opportunity for electrification, while top electric vehicle markets in the world could test the deployment of pure electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and e-highways. They also said that cooperation among China, the United States, and Europe should be enhanced. The experts were scholars from China Automotive Engineering Research Institute, the Vehicle Emission Control Center of China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the International Council on Clean Transportation, and CALSTART, as well as business representatives from enterprises such as Foton Motor, BYD, Shenzhen Bus Group, Ballard Power Systems, and Siemens.

Zero emissions of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles has been a priority of Energy Foundation China. In the future, we will continue to encourage more research, communications, and cooperation in this field.