PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Q. ROO. – Transportation is the second source of greenhouse gas generation (GHG), worldwide it represents 15.1%, while in Mexico, as a result of the predominance that motor transportation has within the total movement of goods, its contribution is 32 %, was announced within the framework of the start of work of the 24th National Freight Transport Forum of the National Association of Private Transport (ANTP).
During the panel “Vision of decarbonization in Mexico”, the representatives of the heavy vehicle marketing brands in Mexico presented the vision they have to promote decarbonization in the country, as well as technological viability.
Alex Theissen, president of the ANTP Board of Directors, in summary, explained that there is good and bad news about the approaches that were made by the producing brands: “the first bad news is that there is little time to react to the reality of the pollution levels, the second is that it is difficult to achieve the goals set by the various brands and international organizations.”
However, Theissen said that it is good news to know that producers have the answers to the urgency of reducing GHG, which is why the route has been laid out. “The important thing is to visualize that products designed for this market are required,” she stated.
A relevant point in the conclusion raised by the president of ANTP is that these types of solutions should not be pressured only by regulatory changes, but by a sector strategy and this urgency is added to the need to renew the fleet of the motor transportation, especially cargo, which on average is 20 years old according to data from the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) .
Regarding the proposal by the virtual president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, of a scrapping program to renew units that are more than 15 years old, Theissen was emphatic when referring that it is necessary to participate in a plan with the government to define the lines of action and work to have a successful program.
Among the realities that exist, is that the sale of zero carbon vehicles in Mexico began to be present in 2022, when they were sold in five units representing 0.01% of total sales, by 2023 23 vehicles were achieved that contributed 0.04% of the market, while so far in 2024, three units have been displaced, representing 0.01%, shared Constantino Vázquez, Marketing and Sales Planning Manager at Isuzu Motors de México .
On the path of electrification, it is important to continue emphasizing that infrastructure is key in this effort and much of the brands’ work must occur in the consulting area , considered Fernando Mar Orellanda, Sr. Manager of Product Strategy, Connectivity. and Electrification of Freightliner Mexico .
For Sergio Sánchez, Product Configuration and Development engineer at Navistar Mexico , the vision that this company has is that there is not only a way to achieve a greater impact, in addition to having an analysis of the use of the vehicles. and energy consumption, as a way to determine the best solution.
In the case of Scania Mexico , Gilberto Rodríguez, Sales Engineering and Electromobility Manager, explained that within the vision they share to achieve greater decarbonization is avoiding motorized travel when possible, identifying the most sustainable modes of transportation and using the best available vehicle technologies.
Javier Valadez, Director of Operations at PACCAR Mexico , stated that there are three ways to achieve the objectives , and this is through the early adoption of technologies, where various ANTP partners are part of this group; the regulated sector that is motivated by official provision or by programs such as the Port of Los Angeles to avoid greater emissions; and finally, for those actions that boost the market.
A point to highlight not only in Mexico is to identify that although emissions technologies for transportation can be clean , the sources of energy generation are not, which is why it is a point to be identified, considered Gabriel Alemán Andrade, manager of Volkswagen Engineering .
For Jorge Machuca, director of Cummins ‘ Latin American Engine Division , technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells are a technology that seems distant in Mexico, however, the most viable are hydrogen combustion engines , which in the case of Cummins will join the market in the United States in 2028.
In all this context, Guillermo Zárate, executive president of the Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors (AMDA) , emphasized that given the regulatory change in diesel engine emissions that is taking place towards 2025 with the EURO 6 / EPA 10 binomial, this does not necessarily It will contribute to decarbonization, since it is known that by not using the correct diesel, these technologies can be more polluting than EURO 5 / EPA 07 engines using regular diesel.
Zárate said that in a measurement of the availability of ultra-low sulfur diesel (DUBA) in service stations, there is coverage of 78% of the national territory, “but in a territorial analysis, important areas were identified without the offer of DUBA ”.
