Experts from the Opasnik Center took part in the 112th session of the Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (WP.15), which was held in Geneva (Switzerland) from 8 to 11 November 2022. In total, delegations from 25 of the 53 states that are parties to ADR participated in the session.
This was the last session during which the full list of amendments was finally adopted, entering into force on 1 January 2023. As a reminder, amendments to ADR are introduced not only by the WP.15 working group, but also at a joint meeting of the RID Committee of Experts, as well as the WP.15/AC.1 Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods.
The agenda of this, as well as several recent sessions of the working groups, featured a move towards reducing carbon emissions. In particular, the use of electric vehicles as vehicles for the transport of dangerous goods. The problems of production, transportation and disposal of lithium batteries were also discussed.
And this is no coincidence. Europe sees the main threat in global warming. The sea level is constantly rising, and the driver of the agenda here is the Netherlands, 25% of whose territory is below sea level. The European Parliament even decided that from 2035, the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines, both gasoline and diesel, will be banned in Europe. At the same time, up to 500 thousand tons of lithium battery waste is expected to be generated annually, the disposal of which has not yet been fully worked out.
Experts from the Opasnik Center are quite skeptical about these projects. It is currently impossible to make a forecast regarding the feasibility of Europe's plans to switch to electric trucks. Despite the fact that the energy density of lithium batteries has doubled over the past 10 years, the growth process cannot continue indefinitely. The capacity resource has its physical limit, and when it will come is unknown.
As for the safety of transporting dangerous goods, it will not be the case for electric vehicles anytime soon. WP.15 experts agreed that electric vehicles in their current form cannot be used as FL, as well as EX/III and EX/II. At the same time, it is not taken into account that lithium salts used in lithium-ion batteries react violently with strong acids, and they are transported in permitted AT. In the event of an acid spill, the consequences are unpredictable. It is quite possible that everything will be limited to classes 6.2 and 8, especially since lithium battery electrolyte is already toxic and hazardous to the environment.
These and other changes to ADR, which come into force in 2023, will be the subject of a webinar by the Opasnik expert center, which will be held on December 8, 2022. Registration is open at the link https://opasnik.ru/events/434034/
