Open Engineering 2021; 11: 937–947

Regular Article

Jozef Gnap and Marek Dočkalik*

Impact of the operation of LNG trucks on the

environment
https://doi.org/10.1515/eng-2021-0096 on the basis of more accurate data verified on the basis of
received May 14, 2021; accepted August 25, 2021 the same measurement methodology and in real practice,
Abstract: The significance and importance of road freight e.g., on the same transport routes with the same load. It
transport in society are certainly unquestionable. As in will definitely not be easy to achieve the EU objectives
most sectors of the economy, road freight transport has for reducing the production of emissions and it will cer-
an impact on the environment. The EU seeks to eliminate, tainly require innovative and environmentally friendly
as far as possible, the negative environmental impacts of technologies. At present, the construction of a vehicle is
various sectors. For these reasons, several EU commit- of great importance, especially for its ecological opera-
ments have been made in the future to reduce emissions tion, or rather the reduction of the ecological burden
so that road haulage vehicles are also more environmen- on the environment. The production of emissions in the
tally friendly. Trucks that use alternative fuels, such as exhaust gases is checked before it is put into service and
natural gas, are already in use today. The EU attaches during the operation of the vehicle. One of the possibilities
importance to reducing CO2 production, and this contri- may be the use of alternative fuels instead of standard
bution also pays particular attention to the production of ones, which are currently commonly used in practice.
CO2 vehicles using liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel com- Alternative fuels, such as compressed natural gas CNG or
pared to vehicles using standard diesel. The results show liquefied natural gas (LNG), are also gradually being used
that when operating vehicles using LNG, it is possible to in road freight transport in the EU. Like any technology, the
achieve lower CO2 production and at the same time lower use of these fuels has its environmental and economic con-
vehicle noise, which is an advantage when operating sequences, which need to be compared to some extent with
vehicles in cities. standard fuels. The use of natural gas in road freight trans-
port has the potential to reduce CO2 production. For this
Keywords: road transport, CO2, LNG, environment, trucks reason, in some EU countries, these vehicles are supported
through various benefits in the form of subsidies or taxes
and fees. At present, there are also requirements from some
customers for carriers to use these vehicles. From an eco-
1 Introduction logical point of view, as well as from a commercial and
marketing point of view, these vehicles can have the poten-
Road transport by its activity also contributes to the pro- tial to gain a foothold in the market now and in the future.
duction of greenhouse gases. The EU seeks to reduce the Some EU countries that have different incentive schemes to
production of greenhouse gas emissions, especially CO2, encourage the purchase of LNG vehicles have also decided
in all areas of the economy. Protecting human health and to help increase the use of LNG vehicles.
the environment as a whole should be an extremely This article examines the benefits of using LNG vehi-
important goal. It is important to reduce pollutant emis- cles on the basis of data obtained from the selected trans-
sions, to adopt and implement effective measures to port company and real practice and experience with the
reduce emissions at the local, national as well as EU level use of LNG vehicles. Based on these data, the article
expresses the impact of LNG vehicles on the environment
 compared to diesel vehicles in terms of CO2 production.
* Corresponding author: Marek Dočkalik, Department of Road and The main research question is to find out the differences
Urban Transport, University of Zilina, Univerzitná 1, 010 26 Žilina,
in the impact of the real operation of semi-trailers with
Slovakia, e-mail: marek.dockalik@stud.uniza.sk
Jozef Gnap: Department of Road and Urban Transport, University of
tractors powered by LNG fuel and diesel fuel on specific
Zilina, Univerzitná 1, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia, routes of international road freight transport on CO2
e-mail: jozef.gnap@fpedas.uniza.sk emissions.

Open Access. © 2021 Jozef Gnap and Marek Dočkalik, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License.
938  Jozef Gnap and Marek Dočkalik

The results of the research fit into the issue of the Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 of the European Parliament
targets of sustainable development [1,2]. and of the Council, which sets CO2 emission standards
for new heavy-duty vehicles, is also in force in order to
limit growing emissions from road transport. CO2 emis-
sions from heavy-duty vehicles such as tractors trucks
2 Literature review are required to be reduced by 30% by 2030, with the aim
of a medium reduction by 15% by 2025. By 2025, manufac-
At present, the combustion engine is an almost exclusive turers will be required to ensure that at least 2% share of
source of propulsion for road transport vehicles. Deterioration the market from sales of new vehicles will consist of zero
of the environment causes that the requirements for and low emission vehicles in order to counteract the
improving the operation of motor vehicles equipped with a steady increase in road transport emissions, of which
combustion engine are associated with increasingly stringent about one-quarter is emitted by heavy-duty vehicles. In
emission limits [3]. One-third of all final energy in the EU is 2022, the European Commission will also have to propose
consumed for transport. Most of this energy comes from oil. new targets after 2030 in line with the Paris agreement [9].
This means that transport is responsible for a large share of The authors of the article [11] focused on the EU’s
the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and significantly contri- goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions in the
butes to climate change [4]. Transport produces almost 30% transport sector by 20% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels,
of all EU carbon dioxide emissions whereby road transport and subsequently identify the costs needed to achieve the
accounts for 72% [5]. 2020 emission reduction targets in a selected area.
Road freight transport is a very important part of the The purpose of the study in ref. [12] is to present the
trade in the European continent. According to the ACEA current situation of road freight transport in the Eur-
(European Automobile Manufacturers Association), trucks opean Union and the directions for change in this area.
transport 76.7% of all cargo transported by land [6]. Exhaust The statistics presented in the paper demonstrate the
gases of motor vehicles contain chemicals in different con- changes that are taking place in road freight transport.
centrations, with different effects on human health and the The European Union’s transport policy is also described
environment [7]. Although carbon dioxide is a nontoxic in the article. The authors paid special attention to the
product of combustion, the increase in carbon dioxide con- presentation of European Union projects that make it
tent in the atmosphere is one of the major causes of the possible to reduce the negative impact of freight trans-
greenhouse effect [8]. According to the European Environ- port on the urban environment.
ment Agency, heavy-duty vehicle emissions have increased ACEA takes note of the legislation that sets standards
by 25% since 1990, mainly due to an increase in the volume for CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. In practice,
of transportations of road freight transport [9]. this will mean that already in 2030, almost one-third
Air pollution damages human health and the envir- of all trucks and buses in the market should have alter-
onment. In some places, there are problems with air native propulsion - with electric motors, compressed or
quality. A certain part of Europe’s population lives in LNG or biogas engines. It also implies the need to build
areas, especially in cities, where air quality standards the infrastructure in the EU Member States needed to
are exceeded. The EU’s long-term objective is to achieve recharge and refuel vehicles with alternative propulsion.
such levels of air quality that do not lead to unacceptable In order to meet the set reduction in CO2 emissions, trucks
effects on human health and the environment and do not and buses with alternative propulsion will have to be sold
endanger them. In order to reduce exposure to air pollu- in large quantities [13].
tion, the EU is taking action at many levels. This is not According to expectations and past development of
only through legislation but also through cooperation growth of a gross domestic product that generates demand
with the sectors responsible for air pollution [10]. for freight transport, without the measures taken, the share
The EU has therefore set itself the objective of redu- of CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles would increase
cing CO2 emissions from transport by at least 40% by 2030 by around 9% between the years 2010 and 2030 [14].
and by 60% by 2050 compared to the level of emissions in In recent years, there has been an increased aware-
1990. Emission limits should fall by 37.5% by 2030 for new ness of the negative externalities of freight transport.
passenger cars and by 31% for vans. Members of the Operational research, especially in recent years, has con-
European Parliament also approved a proposal to reduce tinued to contribute to mitigating negative impacts through
CO2 emissions from new trucks. These should fall by 30% the use of various optimization models and solutions. The
by 2030 compared to 2019 [5]. basic principles and an overview of a set of models and
 Impact of the operation of LNG trucks on the environment  939

solutions for the greening of freight transport are presented The incorporation of clean-fuel technologies has
in ref. [15]. become essential for the sustainability of the transportation
LNG is becoming progressively attractive as a sus- sector. Natural gas technology, especially the use of LNG, has
tainable alternative fuel for heavy-duty vehicles and its become a possible alternative to diesel oil in freight transport
share is expected to grow in the near future. In ref. [16], because of its acceptable autonomy and low fuel prices. The
the authors present their patented innovative system study [23] introduces a multicriteria-based methodology that
aimed at recovering the cryogenic energy from the LNG integrates the key factors involved in the transport system:
vaporization upstream of the engine injection. The calcu- vehicles, infrastructure and fuels, and consideration of the
lations showed the very interesting potential of engine three pillars of sustainability, as well as the reliability of
power boost in the range of 10–15%. Also, a modest technology, legislation and market issues. The results indi-
reduction in specific energy consumption of the engine cate that LNG trucks would be an attractive option compared
was calculated. to diesel oil and HVO, provided that decision-makers give
Studies [17–19] deal in detail with the issue of trans- significant weight to social and environmental criteria and
port and distribution of CNG or LNG that can be used in that the government guarantees legislative security to main-
transport. A similar issue of methane emissions from LNG tain the low taxes on natural gas [23].
was addressed by the authors in a study that investigated The next article conducts a life-cycle analysis on LNG
six methods used to offload LNG from a tanker truck to an and compressed natural gas in heavy-duty trucks and
LNG refuelling station and their contribution to methane takes the methane leakage of natural gas supply chains
emissions [20]. into account. The results indicate that natural gas pro-
A simulation of the composition of the vehicle fleet duction and transportation dominate as the major con-
by vehicles with an alternative type of propulsion taking tributor to the total methane emissions of the natural gas
into account operational and economic factors was addressed supply chains, accounting for approximately 68.7–86.7%
in the study [21], with the expression of 25% lower CO2 of the total methane emissions estimated. Life-cycle
production. analysis on LNG, CNG and diesel heavy-duty trucks
The issue of greenhouse gas emissions produced by shows that LNG and CNG heavy-duty trucks will reduce
the road haulage sector is addressed in ref. [22]. These the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 11.17 and 5.18%,
emissions affect the structure of the ozone layer and respectively, compared to that of diesel [24]. A similar issue is
contribute to the greenhouse effect, which causes global addressed in the article that was solved in China [25].
warming problems that are closely linked to chang- The environmental and economic impacts of the use
ing weather conditions and extreme weather events. of LNG and bio-LNG have been addressed by the authors
According to the authors, it is necessary to pay attention in ref. [26], which points to the environmental benefits of
to the discrepancies related to biofuels, specifically the using natural gas in transport.
fact that even though their use generates almost zero What factors affect the purchasing decision and opera-
greenhouse gas emissions, their production requires a tion of low-emission heavy-duty trucks and which ones
high level of energy consumption. The paper deals with are the most relevant are solved in ref. [27]. According to
the theoretical basis of the negative impacts of transport the experts, a truck’s reliability, and available fuelling/
on the environment and the subsequent measurement charging infrastructure, the possibility to enter low-emis-
of the extent of harmful emissions produced by the sion zones as well as current and future fuel costs are key
road freight transport sector. Calculation procedures and factors when purchasing and operating alternative fuel-
declared energy consumption and greenhouse gas emis- powered heavy-duty trucks [27].
sions generated by transport services analysed according The next article reviews the key environmental, tech-
to EN 16258, are also provided. The article also focuses on nical and socio-economic aspects of LNG deployment as
the application of the methodology to specific transport on an alternative fuel for road freight transport, and some
a designated transport route, where the total energy con- projections for the LNG implementation in the Spanish
sumption and the production of greenhouse gas emissions road freight transport that are introduced, concluding
are determined. These calculations are based on compre- that the fuel switch in long-haul trucks could reduce
hensive studies performed for a specific transport com- GHG emissions by 12% and diesel fuel consumption by
pany, which assigned the authors the task of determining 42% in the long term [28].
the extent to which the declared energy consumption and The comparison of LNG, CNG and diesel fuels was
greenhouse gas emissions change when the type of fuel also conducted in refs [29,30] where the exhaust emis-
used changes. sions of urban public transport buses were compared.
940  Jozef Gnap and Marek Dočkalik

The issue of filling stations and the optimization of of freight transport from road to other modes of transport
the European network of filling stations for trucks run- may not mean a better environmental impact on the
ning on natural gas are dealt in ref. [31]. environment are dealt in ref. [39].
In order to promote the development of LNG trucks in The issue of the application of alternative fuels into
the Shenzhen road freight industry, the article aimed at the real operation of road freight transport is therefore
forecasting the LNG filling demand and planning the con- very current and the research outputs mentioned in this
struction of stations. As a result, the required number of article follow some published results.
LNG filling stations can be calculated [32].
The use of other alternative fuels in combination with
conventional fuels is also dealt in ref. [33]. The use of
alternative fuels in transport can also influence the deci- 3 Emissions of LNG-powered trucks
sion-making when choosing the mode of transport from
the point of view of enterprise logistics [34,35]. According to the Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 of the European
Transport operations are one of the sources of the Parliament and of the Council, LNG is an available fuel
current pollution problems in urban areas. One of the alternative to diesel for heavy-duty vehicles. The introduc-
many reasons for such a situation is the growing need tion of existing and new innovative LNG technologies will
for freight transport using different modes of transport, contribute to meeting the objectives for the reduction of CO2
especially road transport. The impact on the environment emissions in the short and medium-term, as the use of LNG
should be one of the most important criteria to be taken technologies reduces CO2 emissions compared to diesel
into account when choosing a mode of transport. The aim vehicles [14].
of the study in ref. [36] was to assess the level of pollution LNG is a natural gas cooled to a temperature of
generated from gaseous emissions depending on the −162°C when it turns into a liquid without colour and
vehicle type, category and size of the load. Urban areas odour. In this state, it has a volume 600 times smaller
were also taken into account. Based on the obtained than natural gas in the gaseous state. LNG is stored in
results, the potential of the level of pollution in cities well-insulated tanks (cryogenic tanks). For comparison,
was determined and it was found out which mode of CNG (compressed natural gas) is compressed natural gas
transport contributes the most to air pollution. The main and it has a volume approximately 200 times smaller
target of the next study was to analyse the use of LNG as a than natural gas. Liquefaction reduces the volume of nat-
fuel for heavy trucks. Different aspects of the LNG chain ural gas three times more than when compressed, and the
were analysed along with the economic and ecological LNG vehicle thus has a range of approximately three
benefits of LNG application. Filling stations network for times more than a CNG vehicle with a CNG tank of the
LNG were described for the purpose of comparative ana- same size [40].
lysis of diesel and LNG heavy trucks. Results have shown Manufacturers of LNG-powered trucks, namely Scania,
that using LNG as propellant fuel has numerous advan- Volvo and Iveco, state that operating LNG trucks can reduce
tages over the use of conventional fuels. In addition to CO2 emissions by 15–20% compared to Euro VI, and up to
cost-effectiveness, LNG road vehicles reduce CO2 emis- 95% when using biogas; 95% less solid particles, 25–70%
sions. Therefore, the environmental targets in transport, less nitrous oxide and, of course, a significant reduction in
not only of the member states but worldwide, could not noise pollution. The percentage reduction in emissions is
be met without LNG in heavy truck traffic [37]. declared by the manufacturers for in-service emissions from
The authors in ref. [38] dealt with the implementa- cars, known as “tank-to-wheel” [41–43].
tion of new EU regulations to reduce CO2 emissions where According to Danish transport research, in which the
the energy and economic framework of legislative mea- authors looked at the perspectives for gas in transport in
sures was simulated. The analysis reveals a reduction in Denmark, it is possible to reduce greenhouse gas emis-
road transport CO2 emissions and diesel consumption as sions by at least 15% per km with the use of LNG if it is a
a result of the uptake of more efficient truck technologies. well-to-wheel expression, so a comprehensive expression
In particular, LNG trucks are favoured because of the taking into account the production of greenhouse gases
lower emission factor of natural gas relative to that of from the extraction of the raw material to its final con-
diesel [38]. sumption. This effect can be several times higher with the
The need to pay attention to green solutions in road use of renewable components [44].
freight transport through different policy measures and A study by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
their impacts on transport and the environment, as a shift from 2014 sees the greatest potential for natural gas in
 Impact of the operation of LNG trucks on the environment  941

transport in heavy freight transport. It notes that in com- culation and declaration of energy consumption and GHG
parison with heavy-duty vehicles and buses powered by emissions of transport services (freight and passengers), the
diesel, emissions taking into account also other green- software considers a constant value of CO2 produced when
house gases expressed in the form of CO2e (carbon dioxide consuming 1 l of fuel. Knowing the amount of fuel con-
equivalent) per km maybe 15% lower in a well-to-wheel sumed, the software provides information on the amount
mode by 2030. This is confirmed by a recent study by the of CO2 produced at weekly intervals. This value of CO2 pro-
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies from 2019. CO2e emis- duced is then analysed and compared between vehicles that
sions can be even lower when using bio-LNG. Values are use diesel or LNG as fuel.
given in g CO2e/km [45] (Table 1). The data in this article are expressed for tractors that
According to the research published in ref. [27], truck are part of semi-trailers and trucks (T) that are part
reliability, availability of refuelling, access to city centres of trailers. For this reason, the data are also divided
and fuel costs are key factors for the purchase and opera- according to this terminology for tractors and trucks.
tion of alternative fuel trucks. The proposed methodology is sufficient for its calculation
of CO2 production for customers of transport and logistics
companies and is supplemented by a comparison of pro-
duction arising from the use of LNG fuel and diesel fuel
4 Impact of LNG and diesel trucks on the same transport routes with the same cost.

of the selected carrier on the

environment
4.1 Comparison of CO2 emissions
In the case of vehicles with alternative propulsion, in
solved issues dealing with vehicles with LNG propulsion, The software provided to the carrier states in its outputs,
an assessment of the impact of their operating activities the so-called monitoring reports, in the weekly interval,
on the environment is given. Manufacturers of LNG-pow- in addition to the distance travelled, the specific fuel
ered trucks, as already mentioned, state that the opera- consumption and other data; also the data on the amount
tion of LNG trucks can reduce CO2 emissions by 15–20% of carbon dioxide CO2 produced for each vehicle. In order
compared to diesel vehicles of emission class Euro VI, to be able to relativize the data, it is appropriate to
and up to 95% when using biogas. Some customers of express the absolute values of CO2 production also in
transport and logistics companies require an accurate the form of CO2 produced per km or tkm (tonne-kilo-
calculation of CO2 production for specific transport routes metre). The data of LNG tractors and LNG trucks are com-
related to the transport of goods, components for assembly, pared with diesel vehicles that were used on the same
which are included in their calculations of CO2 production regular lines in the past and how LNG vehicles are used
in the production of their products. currently. In Table 2, data exist on tractors from the reg-
The proposed methodology, which was used in the ular freight line where the goods with an average weight
research, uses data on the production of CO2 are obtained of 11.88 t for both directions of transport are transported.
from the vehicle manufacturer’s software that offers the The vehicles carry out transport on the route Ivanka
carrier an overview of CO2 production based on the amount pri Dunaji (SK) – Schwarzenbruck (DE). In both direc-
of fuel consumed. The software acquires and stores data on tions, the vehicle is loaded with goods. From the altitude
the real fuel consumption of the vehicle. Subsequently, profile of the route, data on the lowest, highest altitude,
based on the standard STN EN 16258 Methodology for cal- subsequent elevation and the nature of the transport
route are available, which can also have an impact on
fuel consumption and the amount of CO2 greenhouse
gases produced. On the given route, the total ascent is
Table 1: Well-to-wheel CO2e (g/km) [authors based on ref. [45]]
2,939 m and the total descent is 2,698 m, which repre-
sents 0.50% of the total transport route and a 0.46%
HDV Diesel CNG LNG 80% CNG + 20% 80% LNG + 20%
biocomponent biocomponent decrease. The rest of the transport route has a flat char-
acter (Figure 1).
CO2e 1,074 908 912 738 749
These vehicles also carry services on the route Ivanka
(g/km)
pri Dunaji (SK) – Budapest (HU). In both directions, the
HDV: heavy-duty vehicles. vehicle is loaded with goods. On the given route, the total
942  Jozef Gnap and Marek Dočkalik

Table 2: CO2 production from tractors with a semi-trailer on regular freight lines

Transport Fuel consumption CO2 CO2 production CO2 production CO2 production
distance (km) (l/100 km); (kg/100 km) production (t) (kg/l); (kg/kg) (kg/km) (kg/tkm)

Tractor 1 2,977 22.5 1.8 2.69 0.605 0.051

diesel 2,973 22.5 1.8 2.69 0.605 0.051
Tractor 2 1,755 23.4 1.1 2.67 0.627 0.053
diesel 1,395 22.7 0.9 2.84 0.645 0.054
Tractor 3,922 21.2 2.3 2.77 0.586 0.049
3 LNG 3,879 20.4 2.2 2.78 0.567 0.047
Tractor 2,769 21.4 1.6 2.70 0.577 0.049
4 LNG 3,882 21.0 2.2 2.70 0.566 0.048

ascent is 730 m and the total descent is 752 m, which Data on the production of CO2 from tractor units,
represents 0.34% of the ascent and 0.35% of the descent which are operated on the described routes, are given
from the total transport route. The rest of the transport in detail in Table 2.
route is flat. From these data, it is possible to conclude From the data on the production of CO2 emissions per
that it is a relatively flat surface without significant eleva- km, it can be seen that the values are higher for diesel
tions (Figure 2). tractors compared to LNG tractors. This difference

Figure 1: Transport route and route altitude profile Ivanka pri Dunaji – Schwarzenbruck [46].

Figure 2: Transport route and route altitude profile Ivanka pri Dunaji – Budapešť [46].
 Impact of the operation of LNG trucks on the environment  943

Figure 3: CO2 production per 1 km for tractors with semi-trailers.

represents 8% lower CO2 production for LNG tractors. It is perform transport on the same line in the current period
clear that CO2 production is to some extent dependent on where the goods with an average weight of 14.85 t for
specific fuel consumption that can be influenced by sev- both directions of transport are transported.
eral factors and to a large extent one of the factors is also Vehicles perform regular transports on the route
the driver and driving style of the driver. These are the Dolný Hričov (SK) - Eindhoven (NL). On the given route,
results of research that really show how much it is pos- the total ascent is 3,520 m and the total descent is 3,824 m,
sible to reduce CO2 production on specific transport which represents 0.28% of the ascent and 0.30% of the
routes. descent from the total transport route (Figure 5).
The average values of the amount of CO2 produced The sequence of calculation of CO2 production
from one tractor per km can be seen in Figure 3. Indivi- expressed per unit of fuel consumption in kg or l and
dual values are slightly different when compared, so it calculation of CO2 production per km, or tkm on the basis
is appropriate to calculate the arithmetic mean for diesel of available data is maintained as in the previous case
tractors and LNG tractors. The diesel tractors that per- (Table 3).
formed the transports produced carbon dioxide on average Data on the production of CO2 emissions per km show
0.621 kg/km of the route realized by one tractor and in that the values are higher for diesel trucks compared to
terms of the unit of transport performance the CO2 produc- LNG trucks. This difference represents a 10% lower CO2
tion is on average at a level of 0.052 kg/tkm. At present, production for LNG trucks. Even in this case, it is clear
LNG tractors produce an average of 0.574 kg of CO2 per km that CO2 production is to some extent dependent on the
realized by one tractor, and in terms of the unit of trans- specific fuel consumption for a given vehicle, which can
port performance, the production of CO2 is on average at be affected by several factors and to a large extent one of
the level of 0.048 kg/tkm. the factors is also the driver and driving style of the
Knowing the value by which LNG tractors produce driver, the weight of the freight transported (here it was
less CO2 per kilometre than diesel-powered tractors during higher compared to semi-trailers sets), or the nature and
the operation of a regular line, it is appropriate to express profile of the transport route (Figure 6).
how much lower the production of this greenhouse gas Diesel trucks produced CO2 on average 0.721 kg/km
would be at different standard annual driving perfor- of the route realized by one truck, and in terms of the
mances of tractors (Figure 4). unit of transport performance, the CO2 production is on
There are also data on the CO2 production of diesel average at the level of 0.048 kg/tkm. At present, LNG
trucks with a trailer that performed transport on another trucks produce an average of 0.649 kg of CO2 per km
regular line in the past, as well as data on LNG trucks that realized by one truck, and in terms of a unit of transport

Figure 4: Difference in CO2 production between the compared tractors with semi-trailers depending on the annual driving performance
in km.
944  Jozef Gnap and Marek Dočkalik

Figure 5: Transport route and route altitude profile Dolný Hričov (SK) – Eindhoven (NL) [44].

performance, CO2 production is on average at the level of Data on CO2 production are expressed for individual
0.044 kg/tkm. The difference between diesel and LNG vehicles in kg/km. It is clear and understandable that CO2
trucks is on average 0.072 kg/km of CO2 produced. production is linked to fuel consumption and with higher
The value by which LNG trucks produce less CO2 per specific fuel consumption there is also higher CO2 pro-
kilometre than diesel trucks is calculated in the same way duction. Both diesel and LNG trucks have a higher spe-
as for tractors. It is therefore appropriate to express how cific consumption compared to tractors but the goods
much lower the production of this greenhouse gas would transported on the line have also a higher average weight
be at the different standard annual driving performances than the goods transported on the lines with tractors. For
of trucks. this reason, it was appropriate to express CO2 production
In Figure 7, it can be seen that with increasing in addition to kg/km also per unit of transport perfor-
driving performance much lower amounts of the green- mance, i.e. in kg/tkm. A summary evaluation of the
house gas CO2 produced can be achieved when operating average CO2 production for vehicles by type of fuel used
an LNG truck. is given in Table 4.

Table 3: CO2 production from trucks with trailers on regular freight lines

Distance Fuel consumption CO2 CO2 production CO2 production CO2 production
(km) (l/100 km); (kg/100 km) production (t) (kg/l); (kg/kg) (kg/km) (kg/tkm)

Truck 1 5,185 26.5 3.7 2.69 0.714 0.048

diesel 7,665 27.2 5.6 2.69 0.731 0.049
Truck 2 7,571 25.2 5.1 2.67 0.674 0.045
diesel 5,244 28.4 4.0 2.69 0.763 0.051
Truck 7,727 24.0 5.1 2.75 0.660 0.044
3 LNG
Truck 5,331 23.4 3.4 2.73 0.638 0.043
4 LNG

Figure 6: CO2 production per 1 km for trucks with trailers.

 Impact of the operation of LNG trucks on the environment  945

Figure 7: Difference in CO2 production between the compared trucks with trailers depending on the annual driving performance in km.

Table 4: Overall evaluation of calculations of average CO2 production

Consumption (l/100 km); CO2 production Difference (%) CO2 production Difference (%)
(kg/100 km) (kg/km) (kg/tkm)

Tractor Diesel 22.8 0.621 7.56 0.052 7.69

LNG 21.0 0.574 0.048
Truck (T) Diesel 26.8 0.721 9.98 0.048 8.33
LNG 23.7 0.649 0.044

According to the calculated data, the CO2 production the point of view of the development of LNG vehicles in
is lower for LNG-powered vehicles in case of expression road freight transport, the economic aspect is also impor-
per 1 km, but also in the expression on the unit of trans- tant, as the costs associated with procuring LNG vehicles
port performance tkm. The difference in CO2 production are higher compared to standard vehicles using conven-
for specific operating conditions between diesel and LNG tional propulsion and this affects the transport com-
vehicles of the same emission class does not reach the pany’s costs.
percentage level specified by vehicle manufacturers. But The environmental impact of LNG vehicles was com-
also based on the results already mentioned, the deploy- pared with diesel vehicles that performed the same trans-
ment of LNG tractors with semi-trailers has reduced CO2 ports on the same transport routes. The data obtained
production by 7.69% and LNG trucks with trailers by up and calculated show that LNG vehicles produce, on
to 8.33% in real operation on regular freight lines com- average, a lower amount of greenhouse gas CO2 than
pared to the use of diesel trucks. diesel vehicles. Their operating activity can be consid-
ered from the point of view of CO2 production as more
environmentally friendly.
As mentioned, the aim of this research was to find
5 Discussion and conclusion out, in particular, the production of CO2 from operating
activities, so that this expression could be considered in
In order to achieve the EU’s ambitious objectives in the a tank-to-wheel mode. The subject of further research
field of CO2 reduction, it is important to pay close atten- could be the identification of a complex environmental
tion to the tools, thanks to which it would be possible to impact, which takes into account the production of all
finally meet them. One option is also the use of alternative greenhouse gases or pollutants and throughout the pro-
fuels that can generally be considered greener and more cess from raw material sourcing through distribution to
environmentally friendly. Gradually, vehicles with alterna- consumption and taking into account all factors affecting
tive propulsion are also being used in road freight trans- the environment throughout this process. which is called
port, e.g., powered by LNG or CNG. a well-to-wheel. In order to achieve the EU’s overall emis-
Based on the data obtained, the article shows how sion reduction objectives in road freight transport, the
these vehicles affect the environment through their oper- greatest annual savings in CO2 production in the deploy-
ating activities, especially compared to standard diesel ment of LNG trucks will be achieved if they are operated
vehicles. The main focus was on CO2 production because on long-distance lines in international transport with the
the EU pays close attention to this area. Of course, from two-member crew so that the annual driving performance
946  Jozef Gnap and Marek Dočkalik

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