Metallica’s Green Crusade: Pioneering Sustainable Fuels in Heavy-Duty Trucking

Metallica, the legendary band known for trailblazing thrash metal with their rugged guitar riffs and relentless drumbeats, is now setting its sights on leading a different kind of revolution—this time in the realm of sustainable transportation. As part of their European tour this summer, the iconic group aims to showcase the viability of trucks powered by renewable fuels such as biomethane and vegetable oil.

Since their 1986 hit album “Master of Puppets,” Metallica has been a mainstay in rock music. Now, they’re seeking to bolster their social responsibility credentials by partnering with European truck manufacturer Iveco. The band, famed for tracks like “Battery” and “Fuel” (with lyrics such as “Fuel is pumping engines / Burning hard, loose and clean / And I burn, churning my direction / Quench my thirst with gasoline”), is determined to demonstrate that sustainable heavy-duty trucking is feasible on European highways, which are increasingly dotted with alternative fueling stations.

However, the logistical challenges of their meticulously planned 7,200-mile tour from Sweden to Spain highlight the current limitations of using cleaner fuels in regular operations. “You have limited options because of the lack of the infrastructure,” explained Natasha Highcroft, a director at Transam Trucking, the Suffolk, U.K.-based logistics provider for Metallica and other bands. “We use alternative fuels as and when we can, as much as possible, but until the infrastructure is there, it’s very difficult.”

The trucks for the tour are powered by a mix of natural gas, vegetable oil, electricity, and hydrogen fuel cells. They will be transporting giant video screens, lighting, and instruments across nine countries. The backbone of Metallica’s green fleet includes ten heavy-duty trucks running on renewable natural gas, derived from sources like landfills, and four heavy-duty trucks using biodiesel or hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO). These trucks, emblazoned with Metallica’s fierce logo, can travel about 1,000 miles between refueling stops.

Although these fuels significantly reduce emissions compared to regular diesel, experts note that they are not as clean as battery-electric or hydrogen fuel cell technologies. The tour, which was set to begin this week in Munich, Germany, will cover southern Europe to northern countries like Denmark and Norway, with the longest journey spanning nearly 1,800 miles from Warsaw to Madrid.

Iveco, the supplier of the eco-friendly trucks for the tour, produces both battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell engines—technologies that European and U.S. governments are urging truckers to adopt. However, due to the current lack of charging and fueling infrastructure for these technologies on long routes, the battery-electric and hydrogen trucks will primarily be used for promotional purposes at concerts, according to Gerrit Marx, CEO of Iveco.

Marx emphasized that renewable natural gas and hydrogenated vegetable oil are currently “more available and ready” than batteries and hydrogen, while also being “way better than fossil diesel.” Europe boasts hundreds of liquefied natural gas and HVO refueling stations, and a representative from British energy giant Shell, which is collaborating with Iveco on the tour, noted that Metallica’s low-carbon journey would not have been possible just a few years ago.

Shell indicates that its customers can access HVO in five European countries and renewable natural gas in Germany and the Netherlands. When low-carbon options are unavailable, the Iveco trucks will revert to using regular LNG, and the HVO trucks will use standard diesel. To mitigate the environmental impact, Metallica’s tour plans to purchase carbon credits to offset any “unavoidable emissions” from their low-emission trucks.

In the U.S., companies are similarly using renewable natural gas and biodiesel to cut carbon emissions, but trucking specialists point out that these fuels are not yet available in sufficient quantities to power the global fleet. This scarcity is why regulators are promoting battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. However, trucking executives highlight the high operational costs of these technologies, which can be double or triple those of diesel, making them less viable in the highly competitive, low-margin trucking industry.

Lars Stenqvist, Chief Technology Officer at Volvo Group, expressed the importance of high-profile acts like Metallica amplifying the potential of sustainable fuels. He believes that widespread adoption of this technology will only occur when there is customer demand, adding, “This is music to my ears.”