Transport companies are increasingly delivering innovations that reduce carbon emissions and boost access to clean energy. According to Louise Naude, low carbon frameworks programme manager for WWF South Africa, there are several companies in the sector that have delivered noteworthy solutions in recent years. One of the entrepreneurial solutions was the Miser technology, said Naude. “This is a hydraulic hybrid transmission system designed for all vehicles to recover and store the kinetic energy typically lost while braking.” The energy is then sent back to the wheels at the optimum time so that you can drive from the hydraulic system rather than the engine. With an estimated 300 million freight vehicles on the road worldwide causing significant carbon emissions, retrofitting this technology offers significant future carbon emission reductions. Naude said many of the technologies being developed in the sector offered cutting edge solutions to address the pressing issue of carbon emission reductions in South Africa. “South Africa will increasingly face trade impacts due to reduced demand for, and trade barriers against, our highcarbon and carbonintensive exports, such as thermal coal, locally produced iron and steel, and combustionengine vehicles,” she said. Embracing new technology and new innovations was an essential step forward in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
