Accelerating Light-Duty Fleet Decarbonisation through Energy Efficiency Audits: Results and Methodology Assessment

Abstract

The transport sector is responsible for 37% of the energy consumption in Portugal (70% of it due to road transportation), supplied almost completely by fossil fuels. Portugal must reduce these sector’s emissions by 98% to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, thus making transportation a crucial sector for a successful decarbonisation of the economy. This scenario sparked action at ADENE – the Portuguese Energy Agency to create MOVE+, an auditing methodology that incentivises and guides a broad group of stakeholders to act on the decarbonisation of mobility, starting with light duty and freight fleets. It comprises a framework to rate fleets on energy efficiency which enables regular implementation and monitoring of decarbonisation measures in areas such as vehicle technology, telematics, driver training, tyre selection, and maintenance. This paper shows that the application of the MOVE+ methodology helped identify an electrification potential of 24% on average per fleet, according to the Best-in-Class (whereas the analysed sample shows 20% of electrification). A multiple linear regression model validates the correlation between MOVE+ obtained scores, in the evaluated dimensions, and the fleet’s specific CO2 emissions. The methodology also allows us to assess that Portugal is lagging to meet the carbon neutrality target for the transport sector by 2050. Such assessment allows us to estimate that, regarding light-duty fleets, at the current pace zero emissions will only be reached by 2080, thus highlighting the need for public policy adjustments that push towards faster decarbonisation.