The Regulation on the Promotion of Clean Road Transport Vehicles (Regeling Bevordering Schone Wegvoertuigen) sets requirements for the proportion of clean and emission-free vehicles and transport services by contracting authorities, such as the central government, municipalities, provinces and bodies governed by public law. The Interdepartmental Policy Survey on options for additional climate policies to meet the 2030 and 2050 climate targets, which was recently conducted, recommends tightening these targets.
CE Delft was commissioned by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland) and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat) to investigate to what extent these tightened targets are feasible. The focus in this regard has been on whether there are financial obstacles that prevent the realisation of these targets and, if so, in which way financial support from the central government could provide a solution. This is based on the assumption that €30,192 million is available for financial support.
Our research shows that there are likely to be financial barriers to achieving the tightened targets, particularly with regard to target group transport. However, these barriers can largely be resolved by spending the available funds on specific allowances for contracting authorities with regard to target group transport to support the acquisition of zero-emission vehicles.
In addition to the aforementioned financial barriers, there are also several non-financial barriers that may hinder the achievement of the tightened targets in the Regulation on the Promotion of Clean Road Transport Vehicles. These could include insufficient or untimely availability of charging/fuelling infrastructure (including issues with grid congestion), lack of knowledge about the design of sustainable procurement, and concession periods that are shorter than the economic lifetime of vehicles, which could result in uncertainty among market players about the possibility of recouping their investments in zero-emission vehicles.