The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) recently provided comments to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) on the Clean Fuel Standard discussion paper.
CTA reiterated that overall it has been supportive of ECCC’s Heavy Truck Greenhouse Gas regulations in both phases I and the current Phase II proposal. The reduction of greenhouse gases from heavy trucks makes good environmental and business sense for trucking fleets, CTA stated.
However, CTA has maintained the position that any mandate must consider accepted, market-proven technologies that complement Canadian operating conditions and standards. For fleets, the risks and operational challenges associated with the shift to alternative fuels has always outweighed the payback. Unfortunately, market uncertainty and poor industry experience associated with certain lower carbon fuels has been the norm, limiting their applicability as a potential operational/fuel saving benefit.
Meanwhile, natural gas truck technology is a proven commodity, but to date has not been adopted – at least without significant government incentives. In response to Natural Resources Canada and the provinces of Quebec and Ontario announcing programs to aid the natural gas sectors, CTA has been watching with great interest the impact these programs have on our sector’s receptiveness to natural gas vehicles.
In its comments, CTA asked ECCC to address four issues:
- Lower carbon fuels and alternatives availability for use in each transportation sub-sector;
- How market ready is lower carbon fuels technology and alternatives in this sector?
- The barriers to usage of lower carbon fuels and alternatives in the transportation sector:
- Possible needs for transportation to transition to lower carbon fuels
CTA urged the government to work with OEMs and the trucking industry to identify appealing practical alternatives and be prepared to provide incentives to mitigate risk for early investment.
CTA recommended a pan-Canadian standard which provides as much national policy alignment with the provinces as possible. CTA also supports using multiple fuel options for complying with the mandate and meet the criteria set by ECCC.
“These fuels must be de-risked and market tested by government to ensure their compatibility with heavy-duty truck engines, as well as verify the technology works to reduce GHG emissions in the trucking sector.”
To see the full submission as well as CTA’s ‘SMART’ white paper on environmental viability in the Canadian trucking sector, click here: 170425-cta-comments-clean-fuel-standard-paper_public