Helen Roush, Executive Vice President of Paperitalo Publications

In a recent press release from James Jones & Sons, Ltd, a Scottish forestry company, it announced that it is partnering with Volvo and Scotlog Haulage in a three-year trial of electric timber trucks.

The press release states that "Scottish Forestry has awarded £452,000 towards the trial, which will test the use of state-of-the-art electric timber wagons to transport timber.

Around 7 million tonnes of wood are harvested from Scotland's forests each year and transported to sawmills, board manufacturers and other processors, mostly on 44 tonne diesel lorries.

The forestry sector, whilst inherently green, is keen to use modern technology to tackle timber transport issues as part of its overall efforts to decarbonise and reach Net Zero."

The press release goes on to state that "announcing the funding package, Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said Forestry is vital to helping Scotland achieve its net zero target by 2045. Around 7.6 million tonnes of harmful CO2 is taken out of the atmosphere from Scotland's trees each year and the timber used in houses and other wooden products lock away carbon for its lifetime."

The forestry sector is innovative and always using new technology to increase its business efficiencies. I welcome this new trial and look forward to hearing more about the findings as we drive closer to Net Zero."

You can read the full press release by clicking here.