A new report from Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) says advanced technologies can bring huge fuel savings in the oil-thirsty trucking industry — if Congress and federal agencies make policy changes that catalyze their deployment.
Reproduced from a Nov. 2017 Securing America's Future Energy study
Some key nuggets from the report:
"The adoption of linked 33-foot trailers, known as twin-33s, will result in an estimated 23 billion gallons of diesel saved by 2050."
"The widespread use of existing platooning technologies could save up to 20 billion gallons of diesel fuel through 2050."
Why it matters: Check out the chart above that reflects the report's findings that oil demand from trucking has grown more than passenger cars and other transport sectors in recent decades.
Overall, according to SAFE, long-haul trucks that move hundreds of billions of dollars of freight annually are just 4% of the vehicles on the road but account for 13% of U.S. petroleum demand.
Latest from EPA: "The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a rule Thursday to repeal tighter emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks with older engines, an Obama-era regulation aimed at controlling soot and other pollutants along with greenhouse-gas emissions linked to climate change," The Washington Post reports.