Clear framework needed for off-road emissions: CMEIG

On the other side of the world, more specifically in the Europe and the United States, vehicle emission standards have been closely regulated, with off-road vehicles in Europe needing to abide by Tier 5 standards from 2021. The United States have been enforcing Tier 4 standards on non-road vehicles since 2015.

In Australia, off-road vehicle emissions are not regulated, meaning machinery manufacturers and importers can choose to bring in machines with less environmentally friendly Tier 2 engines to advanced Tier 5 engines featuring all the latest emission reducing technology such as Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and AdBlue.

In order to achieve the net-zero emissions goal in Australia, this discrepancy and lack of a set of clear standards in the country needs to be corrected, according to Construction and Mining Equipment Industry Group (CMEIG) Chairman, Dean Gaedtke.

The organisation is currently working with government to help assess where and how the off-road vehicle sector is supporting the net-zero emissions goal, which includes understanding how a regulatory framework might help achieve it.

However, even without regulatory framework in Australia, customers and manufacturers have been increasingly pushing for more environmentally friendly equipment anyway, Gaedtke says.

“We have taken a different approach in Australia and even without that same legislative framework, customers are pushing OEMs to go faster and faster on lower emission technology. They want electric machines, they want hydrogen fuels,” he says.

“Part of that drive is coming from banks and financiers, and from corporate customers with specific requirements to meet their corporate social responsibility obligations. And part of it is simply that OEMs, as they design for new emissions standards, are also always designing for more power, for more fuel efficiency.

“Australians have always been early adopters. Our industry is hungry for the latest technology. Australian resellers and distributors are always working hard to get the voice of our customers into the factories.”

While Gaedtke says he sees electric machines becoming part and parcel of the construction and mining industry in just a few decades time, he says there are significant challenges to overcome on the road to net-zero.

“You can buy a car that plugs into your wall socket but it’s not a simple matter to translate that tech for heavy equipment,” he says.

“A high horsepower machine works 10 or 12 hours on site. A plug-in battery pack is not going to cut it.

“The technology is not here yet – but it will be.”

Gaedtke added he believes the internal diesel combustion engine could be phased out in the industry within 30 years.

“It’s not a stretch to say we could well have high horsepower electric machinery by 2050. There are lots of possibilities already being tested, included hybrid diesel electrics, which will be the mid-way step.

“We’re also already seeing concept machines with hydrogen fuel cells, trolley-assist electric power already exists for electric dump trucks and could well be expanded, and we’re seeing energy capture where, for example, the lowering weight of overhead cranes is being used to generate electricity.”

Customer demand for emission reducing technology is one thing, but without a clear regulatory framework, the road to net-zero will be filled with too many bumps and roadblocks, Gaedtke says.

“Because we don’t have clear regulatory guidelines, we find OEMs are producing all kinds of machines for our market – a mix of different tiers. And that makes it difficult for factories to plan, and difficult to focus on specific strategic directions.

“The knock-on effect is huge as we have to almost guess what to stock.

“We’re excited to work closely with the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment to help create a transition plan that will help get the industry where it needs to be.

“Our members are committed to lower-emission equipment and they want to move in this direction.”