Identifying the potential for changing road freight to zero & low-emission vehicles in Colombia

In Colombia, the road freight transport sector contributes 25% of energy consumption, characterised by its high diesel and gasoline consumption. The Energy Action Plan highlights the concern for energy inefficiency in this mode and states the need to define strategies to reduce consumption and promote cleaner energy sources.

The project aimed to carry out energy characterisation of urban and interurban road freight transport in the National Territory in an effort to strengthen the construction of demand projections, the country's energy balances, and the measures of the Energy Action Plan.

How we helped

In the first stage, our team estimated the number of vehicles that provide road freight transport services in Colombia, differentiating between those that provide urban and interurban services.

In a second stage, we mapped the urban freight transport value chain actors in seven study cities (Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Bucaramanga, Pereira, Barranquilla and Villavicencio) to determine the financial profile of these actors.

Finally, in the third stage, the potential for the renewal of the freight vehicle fleet was identified, considering the use of zero and low-emission technologies and describing the main barriers identified and their proposed solutions.

Successes and outcomes

Our work allowed us to identify the main barriers based on the socio-economic characteristics of the agents in the freight transport value chain. We found that the potential for renewing the road freight vehicle fleet to zero and low-emission technologies is 14% at the national level, with a higher share of the freight fleet at the urban level.

Our final recommendations present possible strategies to promote a transformation of this vehicle segment to more efficient and environmentally sustainable technologies.