July 29, 2021 Pointe-Claire, Quebec Natural Resources Canada
The Government of Canada supports green infrastructure projects that create good, middle-class jobs and get us to net-zero emissions by 2050.
Today, as part of #EVWeekinCanada, Francis Scarpaleggia, Member of Parliament for Lac-Saint-Louis, Quebec, on behalf of the Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, announced a $1.7-million investment in FPInnovations to develop and demonstrate hybrid diesel-electric forestry harvesting trucks and help green transportation in Canada’s forestry sector.
FPInnovations will retrofit two conventional forestry tractor-trailers into electric-hybrid tractor-trailers. This will be achieved by equipping two forestry trailers with electric drive axles that will assist the diesel-powered trucks, resulting in reduced fuel consumption and improved traction over challenging terrain. It will drive in British Columbia and Quebec.
Transportation costs make up more than 50 percent of forestry production costs in Canada, with 30 percent of those being from fuel. Favoring hybrid solutions as opposed to diesel equipment will reduce GHG and fuel usage, making Canada’s forest sector more competitive. Simulations have demonstrated that fuel consumption can be reduced by up to 15 percent, which represents a reduction of about 40 tonnes of GHG per truck each year.
British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, and more are also contributing to this initiative, bringing the total project investment to over $2.4 million.
The project is funded through Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Growth Program, which invests in clean technology research and development projects in Canada’s energy, mining and forest sectors. The program is a $155-million investment fund that helps advance emerging clean technologies toward commercial readiness so that natural resource operations can further reduce their environmental impacts while enhancing competitiveness and creating jobs.
Quotes
“Driving clean growth, increasing competitiveness and reducing pollution. This is how we get to net-zero emissions by 2050.”
-The Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr.
Minister of Natural Resources
“Reducing vehicle emissions from across economic sectors is vital to the success of Canada's efforts to combat climate change. I am proud that a long-standing research institute located in the heart of Lac-Saint-Louis is playing a key role, with the help of local engineering talent, in designing solutions to reducing diesel emissions in Canada's forest products sector.”
-Francis Scarpaleggia
Member of Parliament for Lac-Saint-Louis, Quebec
“FPInnovations is committed to developing technologies that increase the competitiveness of our forest industry, and that means creating solutions to our challenges that are good for business and the environment. The hybrid tractor-trailer project is a good example of that, and we’re grateful for the Government of Canada’s support and that of our partners.”
-Stéphane Renou
President and CEO, FPInnovations
