Zero-carbon waste vehicles transition
At a glance
Metro Vancouver required a set of well-considered and practical recommendations for the next steps towards decarbonization. GHD provided a report that presents an analysis of the financial and environmental impacts, research on funding options, measures to mitigate transition barriers to decarbonization, an assessment of stakeholder engagement, and recommendations for feasibility study benchmarks.
Mission
The Metro Vancouver Regional District set the ambitious and vitally important target of reducing carbon emissions by 45% before 2030 and achieving zero emissions by 2050. The District’s Climate 2050 Transportation Roadmap lists six strategies to achieve a carbon-neutral region, with Strategy 3 aiming to ‘Reduce Heavy Truck Emissions and Support Early Adoption of Zero Emission Heavy Trucks’. The successful fulfillment of Strategy 3 could yield a reduction of annual greenhouse gas emissions by 810,000 tons by 2050. GHD was tasked to provide an initial baseline and reference point for transitioning the curbside pick-up trucks, the residual waste or biosolids trucks, and the long-haul transfer trucks to low- and zero-emission alternatives.
The challenge
Zero-emission transition plans for heavy-duty vehicles are often more complex, as the technology for this class of vehicle is in an earlier stage of development than light or medium-duty ZEVs. Concerns such as capital costs, availability and sufficiency of charging infrastructure, and operational considerations must be carefully addressed to ensure the full benefits of these technologies are achieved.
Our response
The first stage of this project included a review of relevant studies on heavy-duty and waste management-focused ZEVs, an evaluation of potential funding sources, and a complete market scan of appropriate ZEV technologies. During this phase, GHD developed an outline of all benefits, opportunities, and challenges associated with transitioning heavy-duty specialty vehicles, including municipal solid waste, transfer trucks, and residual trucks, and recommended potential strategies to overcome transition barriers to unlock the full spectrum of ZEV benefits. These were compiled into comprehensive business cases for the client’s consideration, which provided detailed year-by-year and vehicle-by-vehicle breakdowns of direct costs, environmental costs, and health impacts.
Once that background was established, our Engagement and Communications team took the time to map stakeholders and issues, and to understand local needs so we could begin facilitating relevant conversations about stakeholder priorities. A wide range of respondents, including fleet managers, fleet owners, local government agencies, were brought together to ensure we considered all perspectives.
The impact
As we near the completion of this ongoing project, GHD has compiled a thoroughly researched, holistic report for Metro Vancouver. Drawing upon our experience with prior heavy-duty vehicle transition plans, industry-wide best practices, a comprehensive market scan, and extensive consultation with a wide variety of stakeholders, we have developed a thoughtfully considered and feasible set of recommendations on next steps towards decarbonization. This report includes financial analysis, environmental impacts, health impacts, funding research, transition barrier mitigation measures, stakeholder engagement analysis and results, and feasibility study recommendations and benchmarks.