Are we ready for the Paris Climate Summit? A cleaner, more efficient way of moving freight in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region, spanning the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and eight American states, from New York to Minnesota, is an economic juggernaut, with an estimated USD$5.8 trillion in economic activity in 2014 according to the most recent report on the region’s economy released by BMO Financial Group at the Great Lakes Economic Forum hosted by the Council of the Great Lakes Region in Chicago this past spring.

In fact, this bi-national economic region is responsible for over half of the total value of cross-border goods sales between the United States (U.S.) and Canada, making it a crucial trade corridor for both countries, as well as a vital gateway to Mexico’s growing market and global trade centres.

A large portion of the freight transported in the region, and between Canada and the U.S. more generally, is moved by truck. The figures are astonishing. For example, everyday in Ontario, there are some 200,000 trucks on the road moving inputs for manufacturing, finished consumer products and perishable food. What’s more, in 2013, a staggering 7 million trucks crossed the Ontario-U.S. border, accounting for approximately CAD$222 billion in Ontario-U.S. transboundary trade or 66% of Canada-U.S. road trade.

But as we look to grow the region’s economy, safely and sustainably, we need to face the facts about not only increasing road congestion on Ontario’s highways, but also greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the freight transportation sector, which accounted for the equivalent of 21 million tonnes of CO2 in 2011 in Ontario (36% of the provinces transportation related GHG emissions).

With respect to congestion, we are very fortunate in Ontario to have access to world-class transportation assets, namely our highways, international airports, rail corridors and the St. Lawrence Seaway, which is running at 50% capacity (we take the Seaway for granted today, but at the time of its construction, it was such an ambitious project it required the direct involvement of a Canadian Prime Minister and a U.S. President to build it).

It’s a remarkable transportation network that ties every aspect of commerce together. Further, it provides a distinct strategic advantage for attracting foreign investment, creating jobs and realizing economic growth. However, in Ontario, or the broader bi-national region for that matter, we are not fully optimizing the use of all modes.

As a result, the Council firmly believes that a new multi-modal vision and infrastructure investment strategy for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region is required so that we can better optimize all modes in expanding commerce between the U.S. and Canada and capitalizing on deepening trade links with Europe, Asia and the Americas in a borderless global economy. This strategy could be coupled with the commitment made by leaders at the last North American Leaders Summit in Toluca, Mexico, to develop a North American Freight Transportation Plan.

In addressing greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants from the transportation sector, Ontario has made important strides in reducing emissions, from the Drive Clean program launched in 1999 and the Elective Vehicle Incentive program launched in 2010, to the Ontario Government’s Green Fleet strategy. The freight trucking industry is also doing its part by adopting a number of state-of-the-art technologies that reduce vehicle emissions, such as better engines, aerodynamic trailer skirts and auxiliary power units that reduce idling.

For example, on October 28, UPS announced the deployment of 18 electric, zero emission delivery vehicles to the Houston-Galveston area in Texas. The truck purchases are the result of a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), local governments and non-profits. These vehicles, which are designed and built specifically by the Workhorse Group for the “stop and go” needs of a UPS delivery truck, will avoid the consumption of an estimated 1.1 million gallons of diesel fuel over 20 years. Similar collaborative innovation projects could be launched in Ontario with a dedicated focus and commitment to investment. In 2014 alone, UPS increased its alternative fuel fleet by 60%. The majority of these investments fell within U.S. states or international jurisdictions that offer funding to offset the investment costs.

Likewise, in September of this year, Waste Management and New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) opened a public-access compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station at Waste Management’s facility in Toms River. The construction of the CNG fueling station in Toms River is part of NJNG’s pilot program, the NGV Advantage. With approval from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, NJNG invested a total of $10 million to build, own, and maintain the infrastructure for three public CNG fueling stations in its service territory. The station at Waste Management’s Toms River facility is the first to become operational. Waste Management states that the natural gas conversion has enabled the organization to reduce its fleet’s emissions by 15 percent and improve efficiency by 15 percent. These ambitious goals were announced in 2007 and the natural gas conversion has allowed the company to reach its milestones well before the 2020 deadline. Previously, there were only eight CNG fueling stations open to the public in New Jersey, according to NJNG.

Therefore, borrowing from this example, in addition to considering a new multi-modal vision and infrastructure strategy and a cap and trade initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the lead up to the Paris Climate Change conference, the Ontario government can lead the way again by committing to incentivize green fleet strategies in the freight transportation sector in Canada.

But we can go even further. Fuelled by liquefied natural depots throughout the region and driven by compressed natural gas engine technology, Ontario can also act as an angel investor in constructing a natural gas transportation corridor along the 401 (as a first step), which could easily extend into the southern most reaches of the continent thanks to the crisscrossing network of inter-state highways in the U.S. and Mexico that link the three countries.

A shift towards a better-optimized, low-carbon transportation system is achievable and within reach. But it will require the same amount of innovation, leadership and investment that built the Seaway.

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