Germany highways: toll relief renewal for LNG trucks

In Germany the Transport Commission of the German Bundestag extended until 31 December 2023 the exemption from the motorway toll for LNG and CNG powered trucks, which has been in force since the beginning of 2019.

From then, following the from tolls and incentives for the promotion of low energy and low CO2 emissions trucks, 1,421 applications for the exemption of LNG trucks and over 430 for CNG trucks have been submitted in Germany. This went along with a rapid expansion of the German infrastructure of LNG refuelling stations, which nowadays amount to eighteen across Germany and could increase to fifty at the end of 2020.

Timm Kehler, Director of the industrial association "Zukunft Erdgas", which brings together about 140 energy and technology companies engaged in the natural gas supply chain in Germany and Austria, commented the news as follows: "We welcome the recommendation of the Transport Commission to extend the toll exemption for natural gas trucks for another three years. The measure will give to market operators acquainted with natural gas powered engines more guarantees in planning their choices. The need to act urgently is more evident than ever, given the persistent emissions of CO2 from road freight transport in Germany in the past two decades. Compared to Euro 6 diesel trucks, LNG and CNG powered trucks emit up to 15% less CO2 and can therefore immediately contribute to a greater reduction in emissions, not to mention that with BioGNL and Biomethane they would even be almost neutral from the point of view of climaterant  emissions."