Decarbonising Australia’s Freight: Roadblocks Persist
Freight is critical to Australia’s economy but a UNSW expert is warning the industry is falling behind on the road to net zero.
Freight supply chains underpin nearly every sector of the economy, delivering petrol to service stations, food to supermarket shelves and goods to retail centres across the country.
But the freight industry is under growing pressure as it struggles to align with Australia’s sustainability targets – with the sector still heavily reliant on diesel-powered transport.
Transport engineering expert, Dr Elnaz Irannezhad from UNSW’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, warns that without urgent innovation and coordinated policy action, the industry risks becoming a roadblock to Australia’s path to net zero.
“From our ports and rails to our intermodal terminals, where containers are moved between different modes of transport, almost all our freight fleet currently runs on diesel fuel,” she says.
“There is a huge opportunity to decarbonise the freight and logistics sector – and it starts with collaboration between industry, researchers and government.”
Are we headed in the right direction?
Transport accounts for approximately 21% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
Heavy freight makes up about 40% of transport emissions and represents approximately 7% of Australia’s total emissions. According to the Federal Government’s Emissions Projections 2024 report , freight emissions are expected to increase by 16% by 2040, due in part to the slow uptake of electric heavy vehicles.
“Compared to Europe, where green fleet adoption is further advanced, Australia’s freight challenge is unique,” says Dr Irannezhad.
“Our population and infrastructure is spread over vast distances, which makes electrification more complex.”
https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2025/06/Roadblocks-still-abound-en-route-to-decarbonisation-of-Australias-freight-industry