New mobility concepts

Road traffic generates about eighteen percent of all global carbon emissions, a third of which comes from logistics and transportation. In 2019, carbon emissions generated by
diesel trucks in Germany amounted to about 111 grams of carbon emissions per ton per kilometer. Starting in 2025, newly licensed commercial vehicles will need to meet specific emissions targets in the EU. Violations can then lead to financial penalties of up to 65,000 euros per vehicle. For long-haul commercial vehicles, alternative forms of energy storage,
such as hydrogen, are needed, but time is necessary for market penetration.

Electric trucks are largely unavailable. A disadvantage of e-mobility is the low-energy density of electrochemical storage, which often leads to batteries weighing several tons. An electric twelve-ton truck with a battery capacity of 200 kWh and a range of 200 kilometers needs a battery that adds about two and a half tons of additional load. An environmentally friendly alternative is trucks using a CNG-powered engine (Compressed Natural Gas), whose performance and payload compare similarly with diesel trucks.

“The trailers and chassis are the same, only the engines differ”, explains Niels Maier, whose film equipment rental house Maier Bros. also offers CNG truck rentals. The twelve-ton truck can transport six tons of material; a 7.2-ton truck has a load capacity of about three tons. By choosing a CNG-powered 7.2-ton truck, Maike Maier transported her heavy grip equipment almost emission-free all across Germany when she was working on the productions Eingeschlossene Gesellschaft by Sönke Wortmann and Gugelhupfgeschwader.

“Instead of CNG from natural gas, I was going to gas stations that were offering CNG made from biomethane, which is produced from liquid manure, organic waste, and straw”, says Maike Maier, who navigates her routes with the assistance of the CNG app. Since there are only about 800 CNG gas stations in operation throughout Germany, refueling stops must be carefully planned. For a 600-kilometer haul from Berlin to Munich, a CNG truck has to refuel three times. Since the CNG gas stations are not located directly on the highway, Maike Maier drives routes like these in two days.

Compared to a diesel truck, she was able to save 250 euros over the course of 4,500 kilometers, but the time factor is much longer. “I see it as an advantage”, stresses Maike Maier, “because I slow down when I stay overnight at a hotel.” The slow-down principle intrigued German actress Anke Engelke, and got her interested in the CNG truck on the set of Eingeschlossene Gesellschaft. “All at once, slow movement became an issue for everyone.”

New approaches in the mobility sector also foster creative potential. For the shooting of the Ziegler Film production Homeshoppers Paradise in Freiburg, the carpool was reduced to a minimum and was largely replaced by freight bicycles. The advantage: carbon emissions were reduced and there was no need for parking. “We also used freight bicycles for tracking shots, for which dolly tracks are usually laid”, explains the Green Consultant Jakob Reinhart “The cameraman sat down in the trailer of the freight bicycle and filmed the tracking shot with the camera on his shoulder.”

Photos: © Maiker Maier Grip, Aliccha Merker, Jakob Reinhart