Energy efficiency analysis of heavy goods vehicles in road transportation: The case of Morocco

Abstract

Passenger and freight transport are central to the socio-economic development of countries and urban life. Their enormous consumption of fossil fuels is problematic. It is essential to improve the efficiency and sustainability of this industry, especially in road transport. This paper assesses the heavy goods vehicles (trucks), as a specific segment of road transport, in Morocco from an energy standpoint. For this purpose, a methodology called DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) was adopted to systematically define problems, measure the current state, analyze data to identify inefficiencies, as well as implement and monitor improvements for sustainable performance in this sector. The findings show that Moroccan trucks have significant sustainability gaps, characterized, mainly, by high fossil fuel consumption resulting in high exhaust emissions. The promotion of alternative powertrains such as hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles offer promising opportunities to reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Although these alternative powertrains have the potential to improve operational performance over traditional diesel models in Morocco, several challenges need to be addressed for their widespread uptake.