Abstract Manager

To address the climate impacts of a heavy carbon footprint, fleets across the country are assessing their vehicles and preparing plans to decarbonize them rationally and strategically. Its impact is universal. Municipalities, transit, waste management, school districts, mining, trucking, logistics, and others are engaged in taking definitive steps toward decarbonization. In 2022, GHD worked with a diverse set of fleet operators to help them build fleet decarbonization roadmaps which are holistic in nature and take into account the financial, environmental, infrastructure, energy and operational aspects of onboarding Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs). This presentation will aim to share the challenges from our firsthand experience and lessons learnt through three real-life case studies in navigating these nuances and more.

1. Case Study: BC School District

School Districts work with a limited budget. Consequently, the key challenge was to build a fleet decarbonization roadmap that worked within the reality of the budget and research and incorporate or stack as many funding and rebate opportunities as possible within Canada.

2. Case Study: Major Global Mining Company

This company’s fleet decarbonization mandate includes specialized and off-road vehicles such as locomotives, tugboats, railcar movers, excavators, and loaders. ZEV alternatives in this space are still in the prototype stage and viable commercial alternatives do not exist yet. The key challenge was to research viable ZEVs through engagements with various manufacturers and establish high-level timelines for production and predict pricing based on that.

3. Case Study: Major US Airline

The airline is being pressured by progressive airports such as the Newark Airport to decarbonize their Ground Support Equipment (GSE) by 2027. The key challenge is scale because 1000+ GSEs operate at Newark and are critical to daily operations. The airline needs to quickly decarbonize its fleet by navigating technical constraints, realities on the ground, and supply chain issues in delivering these vehicles.

Conversion to ZEVs can be a prolonged, disruptive, expensive, and risky process. For all industries and fleet operators, there is uncertainty about ZEV’s ability to perform and deliver service in all operating conditions. Each case study noted above presents a unique set of challenges and GHD has developed appropriate methodologies to de-risk each fleet’s decarbonization plan. The lessons, challenges and measures from these cases are crucial bits of information that will resonate with fleets operators across Canada and inform them about their potential pathways to zero-carbon transportation.