They showed that during 2008 the members of KNEG managed to reduce CO2 emissions by 120,000 tonnes. At the fair, KNEG will welcome new members and present their initiatives to cut the climate impact from goods transports. Fuel-efficient transportation and vehicles, smarter logistic solutions and renewable fuels are central themes.

The KNEG collaboration for climate neutral freight transportation was started in 2006 by its founders Preem, Schenker, Volvo Trucks, the Swedish National Road Administration and the Centre for Environment and Sustainability (GMV) at Chalmers University of Technology and Gothenburg University. With its substantial reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, KNEG is one step closer to its target of halving climate impact from road haulage by 2020.

“Now the results are starting to show, and they make a difference. The more effective and creative we are, the faster and more substantial improvements we can achieve," comments Lars Mårtensson, chairman of KNEG and Environmental Director of Volvo Trucks.

GMV has developed indicators (iKNEG) for measuring and monitoring initiatives for climate neutral freight transportations. These measurements show that the collective volume of CO2 emissions from KNEG’s members decreased by 120,000 tonnes in 2008. This equates to the annual emissions from around 2,300 heavy trucks.

The reduction was distributed over the following activities in 2008:

• 70,500 tonnes from use of more fuel efficient trucks
• 36,000 tonnes from low blending of bio diesel into fossil diesel
• 13,400 tonnes from training in eco driving
  

KNEG currently has 15 members, but thanks to these positive effects, KNEG’s initiatives and work methods are also becoming widely known outside Sweden. New members, such as ICA and Lantmännen, will attend the fair in Gothenburg and will be welcomed to KNEG by chairman Lars Mårtensson and Swedish Infrastructure Minister Åsa Torstensson. KNEG’s chairman will present Torstensson with the first KNEG report, which conveys the results of the project and the plan for halving CO2 emissions.

In September 2009, KNEG will participate at the Nordic Climate Solutions Conference in Copenhagen.