With the sobering news that climate change is contributing to a rising number of “billion dollar disasters” in the United States, the world’s top energy and climate ministers, companies, and international experts are poised to meet at the 13th Clean Energy Ministerial and 7th Mission Innovation (CEM13/MI7) ministerial’s “Global Clean Energy Action Forum” in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 21-23, 2022. The annual event brings together the world’s largest and leading countries, companies, and international experts with the goal of accelerating clean energy transitions and addressing the climate crisis. CALSTART and Drive to Zero will collaboratively lead a number of activities at CEM13/MI7 including a high-level speaker and panel event featuring top ministers and business innovators, a workshop examining the road to reaching the ambitious benchmarks laid out in the Global MOU, and a Zero-Emission Truck (ZET) Global Expo.
The in-person zero-emission vehicle showcase will be on display outside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on Fort Duquesne Blvd. Check out more than a dozen zero-emission heavy-duty tractors, delivery vans, step vans, box trucks, and more. Manufacturers include Lightning eMotors, Nikola, XOS, Volvo, Ford, Workhorse, Hyzon, Peterbilt, International, Morgan Truck Body, and more.
Additional Drive to Zero event details are coming soon – register today for CEM13/MI7.
— Owen MacDonnell, Project Manager, CALSTART / Drive to Zero
News Updates
As the Northern Hemisphere makes it through a summer of record-breaking heat and high fuel costs, signs are pointing to larger and broader adoption of electric vehicle technology. A recent survey by TravelCenters of America showed that the largest U.S. trucking fleets are accelerating their investment in zero-emission trucks. Volkswagen and Mahindra announced a partnership to collaborate on the manufacture of 1 million EVs, helping spur electrification in the massive Indian market. U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, providing a $369 investment in clean energy with numerous provisions that confront the climate crisis. The new legislation allocates $3 billion to the U.S. Postal Service, putting pressure on the agency to transition to an entirely EV fleet.
Advances in electric vehicle technology have kept pace with implementation. Germany’s Eberspaecher unveiled a new all-electric AC system made for large and mid-size battery-electric and hybrid buses, aimed at the market in the Middle East, India, and Asia. Top research centers in the U.S. and the U.K. signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to join forces in developing new high-capacity battery technologies and improved battery recycling methods. Battery manufacturer CATL will nearly quadruple its annual battery production capacity when it opens its new $7.6 billion battery factory in Hungary. A new profile in CleanTechnica details how Scania’s pioneering modular assembly system has made it possible to produce many variations of its zero-emission trucks to suit each customer’s specific work needs.
The market acceleration of ZEVs should be celebrated, but it also warrants taking stock of what this push to electrification has accomplished, and how it can be improved. Public policy think tank Third Way recently outlined how federal incentives are still essential for the trucking industry to make a “wholesale shift” to zero-emission trucks. A new article in FreightWaves described the benefits of transitioning trucks to models that do not emit tailpipe emissions, while at the same time examining what carbon emissions are created by the charging process. With an assist from GNA, FreightWaves also discussed how scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions vary under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
Please share new information, potential partners, and innovative practices to achieve our Drive to Zero goals at info@globaldrivetozero.org. Follow us on Twitter @TeamDrivetoZero. Please feel free to share this newsletter with others.
— Justin Slosky, Technical Writer, CALSTART
News Digest
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