The Brenner corridor is under pressure—at least when it comes to heavy‑vehicle transit.
Residents suffer from noise and emissions. Unfortunately, this burdensome transit is also essential for the economic well‑being of several EU countries, Austria included.
Most proposed solutions are about as feasible in the short term as cultivating strawberries on the moon, yet they are still discussed seriously. Many are extraordinarily expensive, and these additional costs ultimately show up in higher prices for everything we rely on. What is actually being done to improve life for people along this route? Nothing substantial.
On the one hand, we need this transit corridor to safeguard our prosperity. On the other hand, most proposed solutions either do not work or remain distant future concepts.
It is therefore all the more surprising that policymakers ignore the one solution that can be implemented immediately, without major additional costs, and that would provide noticeable relief right away: LNG and gas‑powered engines would be a genuine blessing for the people living along the Brenner route.
What is the real issue? Would it matter how many trucks pass through Tyrol if they could neither be heard nor smelled—and if they did not pollute the environment, thereby reducing quality of life?
Fundamentally, the problem is noise and pollution. If both were eliminated, residents in Tyrol would be largely indifferent to transit, as long as it remained on the highway. Visual barriers can be built to address the unpleasant sight; that is not difficult.
Gas engines are among the cleanest technologies operating on the road today. Properly applied, they are significantly cleaner than electric vehicles and comparably quiet. No particulate matter (including no nano‑particulates), no nitrogen oxides, no sulfur oxides—and if the LNG is produced from biogas, it is even CO₂‑neutral. Not even a Tesla achieves that level of cleanliness, as it must first work off its CO₂ backpack.
And they are not only clean—they are genuinely quiet. Drivers switching from diesel to LNG initially needed engine‑sound simulators in the cabin to adjust to the near absence of engine noise. With minimal insulation, an LNG truck is almost silent—apart from rolling noise, which electric vehicles also produce.
Doubts? Naturally. It all sounds a bit too good to be true.
That is why we plan to organize road shows where anyone can see for themselves. Curious?
Stay tuned.