Electric camper vans

[RodCouncil]

We actually had an interesting call yesterday about using methanol as a fuel for engines. This appears to be one way shipping is heading and there are a few examples of generators now running methanol. Currently more methanol is a by product of oil/gas industry but it can also be made from biomass or via green electricity. It's a liquid at room temperatures and not as flammable as hydrogen. The main downside it is energy density which is about 50% of petrol so your tank would need to be twice the size.

Electric motors are good in some ways for commercial vehicles as they do have loads of torque and there will of course be new battery chemistries that which mean that we can get smaller/lighter solutions. What you don't want to end up is one trailer full of batteries to move another trailer of goods across the country. This doesn't even consider the infrastructure requirements to generate all that electricity.

But hey we will all be getting our deliveries to the door by drones in 5 yrs! So maybe there won't be a need for traditional commercial vehicles!

You will still need line haul, how do products get from a ship to a warehouse? why not skip over all logistics and drone the product from the factory to the consumer? (Joke). The only air drones we'll see being effective are in very light last mile deliveries, line haul is bulk and needs trucks and trains to go between Warehouses.

We use HVO100 on our line haul trucks and electrify the last mile for our lockers and Home Delivery, so we'll be reviewing some new fuel types for LH as an experiment, we never had the uphill struggle that the legacy incumbents had so could go green from the get go, it's a brave new world for those with an open mind.

Also, EVs are actually more efficient in stop start scenarios where you can apply regen, after 50mph the aerodynamics force the efficiency right down and is the devil of LH. Einride have some great trailer solutions, oh and you can make ALL electricity green, it's not a question of science, it's one of will and just doing it.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

We actually had an interesting call yesterday about using methanol as a fuel for engines. This appears to be one way shipping is heading and there are a few examples of generators now running methanol. Currently more methanol is a by product of oil/gas industry but it can also be made from biomass or via green electricity. It's a liquid at room temperatures and not as flammable as hydrogen. The main downside it is energy density which is about 50% of petrol so your tank would need to be twice the size.

Methanol or Ammonia looking like most likely fuel at the moment for new build deep sea vessels.

 

[Corradobrit]

We actually had an interesting call yesterday about using methanol as a fuel for engines. This appears to be one way shipping is heading and there are a few examples of generators now running methanol. Currently more methanol is a by product of oil/gas industry but it can also be made from biomass or via green electricity. It's a liquid at room temperatures and not as flammable as hydrogen. The main downside it is energy density which is about 50% of petrol so your tank would need to be twice the size.

Too toxic. Ingesting just 10 ml will destroy the optic nerve leading to permanent blindness. Not to mention all the other neurological effects leading to death. Nope, can't see methanol being available on the forecourt.