Innovative Stainless Steel Applications in transport ... - Euro Inox

(Nylund 2006). Reducing empty weight could directly increase the payload weight
fraction in commercial road traffic, which would improve both the economic and
environmental performance of freight transport.
Figure 70 shows how vehicle weight affects the fuel consumption of heavy vehicles.
Fuel consumption (litres/100 km)
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Fuel consumption of heavy road transportation
(VTT)
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000
Weight (kg)
Figure 70. Fuel consumption and weight of heavy road traffic (Nylund 2006, Mäkelä 2008).
While steels have long been the dominant structural materials for the transportation
industry, over the years, the industry has sought alternative means and materials, to
improve the performance of vehicles. Structural solutions using different materials vary
in their weight, material production and recycling. It is therefore clear that a
comprehensive life cycle perspective is needed when considering the environmental
performance of vehicles. Long product life cycle, in terms of years and kilometres,
differentiates commercial vehicles from private cars. Heavy transportation therefore
requires individual analyses that take all life cycle stages into account, from rawmaterial
production to the end of life.
As one of the major material producers, the steel industry is committed to the concept of
sustainable development and is keen to improve the environmental performance of its
products. To provide the necessary product information to interested parties, the
European steel industry has contributed to an Integrated Product Policy (IPP), in
response to the European Commission’s communication on IPP released in June 2003.
The aim of IPP is to identify and minimise environmental impacts caused by products
110
City bus
60t truck
42t semitrailer